20 words, shortest first. Level 1 has the most common words.
pound
rough
round
route
sound
south
touch
would
young
yours
amount
around
bought
counts
county
couple
course
double
enough
famous
The spelling pattern
Every word on this list contains ou (cloud). Seeing the same letters in many words helps children spot the pattern and spell new words that follow it. Level 2 adds longer and less frequent words.
Ways to practise
Read the list aloud, then cover each word and write it from memory.
Use the fill-in sheet below: the pattern letters are blanked out.
Sort the words by length or by where the pattern appears (start, middle or end).
Where the pattern appears
In the middle (20): pound, rough, round, route, sound, south, touch, would, young, yours, amount, around, bought, counts, county, couple, course, double, enough, famous.
Sorting the words like this is a good first activity: children say each word, find the ou (cloud) letters and decide which group it belongs to. It shows that the same letters keep the same sound wherever they appear in a word.
Running a spelling test with this list
Read each word aloud, use it in a short sentence, then read it once more. Children write the word without looking. Mark the test with the list above and practise any misspelled words again the next day. Five or ten words at a time is plenty for younger children.
Practice sheet: fill in the missing letters
p__nd
r__gh
r__nd
r__te
s__nd
s__th
t__ch
w__ld
y__ng
y__rs
am__nt
ar__nd
b__ght
c__nts
c__nty
c__ple
c__rse
d__ble
en__gh
fam__s
Questions
How many words are on this list?
20 words, all containing ou (cloud). The shortest has 5 letters and the longest, amount, has 6.
What does level 2 mean?
Levels sort the ou (cloud) words by how common and how long they are. Level 1 has the shortest, most frequent words; higher levels add longer and rarer ones.
What should come next?
When this list is secure, move on to level 3 of the same pattern.