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      Spelling the 'o' sound after 'w' or 'qu'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can spell words like want, watch, wander and squash.

      Key learning points

      1. 'a' is the most common spelling for the 'o' phoneme after 'w' and 'qu'.
      2. How to spell the common exception words: other, mother, brother, another and nothing.

      Keywords

      • Phoneme - the smallest unit of sound that can change its meaning

      • Grapheme - the letter or group of letters that represent a sound

      • Homonym - a word that has the same spelling but a different meaning to another word

      Common misconception

      Children can confuse 'th' with 'f' and 'v' in some words because they pronounce it that way.

      Focus on pronunciation of the sounds before spelling, and show the tongue moving forward for words with 'th' in them.

      Teacher tip

      Depending on your phonics scheme, you may teach 'o' making the 'u' sound in 'other' and 'a' making the 'o' sound in 'want' as regular representations (as a high frequency word, not an 'exception' word).

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: Please put your __________ away.

      cloze
      cloths
      Correct answer: clothes

      Q2.
      Which two words contain the 'o' sound, like in 'not'?

      Correct answer: hot
      Correct answer: what
      spoon
      poke

      Q3.
      Match the verbs to their past tense.

      Correct Answer:walk,walked
      Correct Answer:want,wanted
      Correct Answer:wash,washed

      Q4.
      Choose the representation of the 'l' sound that matches the words.

      Correct Answer:animal,al
      Correct Answer:little,le
      Correct Answer:pencil,il
      Correct Answer:drill,ll
      Correct Answer:let,l

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: I built a __________ airplane.

      fossel
      Correct answer: fossil
      fossl
      fosil

      Q6.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: I __________ a new toy please.

      wont
      Correct answer: want
      whant

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: My __________ can be annoying.

      bruva
      bruther
      Correct answer: brother
      brover

      Q2.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: My __________ looks after me.

      muther
      mothir
      muthu
      Correct answer: mother

      Q3.
      'a' is the most common spelling of the 'o' sound after which initial sounds?

      Correct answer: w
      t
      th
      Correct answer: qu

      Q4.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: There were too many people on the train and I felt...

      scwoshed
      Correct answer: squashed
      squast
      squoshed

      Q5.
      Choose the correct spelling to complete this sentence: He could tell the time with his...

      woch
      wotch
      Correct answer: watch
      wach

      Q6.
      Correct the spelling in bold in the following sentence: I wont to go home.

      Correct Answer: want

      To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Spelling the 'o' sound after 'w' or 'qu', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...