LumiraWhat is a diphthong?
A diphthong is a vowel sound that glides from one position to another inside a single syllable — your mouth moves as you say it. They are best taught as one unit rather than as two separate vowel sounds.
The ou diphthong — word list
Every word below appears in the decodable book on this page, so a reader who practises the list will meet the same words again in context.
- cloud
- count
- found
- ground
- house
- loud
- mouse
- mouth
- out
- proud
- round
- shout
- sound
- south
Free decodable book: Decodable Diphthong OU
This is an original Lumira decodable reader, written so that a child can sound out nearly every word using patterns they have already been taught. The full text is below — read it here, or open it in the app to read it together with the words highlighting as you speak.
Mia and Leo went out. They saw a cloud. They like it.
Leo found a mouse. Mia found a mouse too. They like it.
Mia can shout. Leo can shout too. Mia and Leo shout and shout.
A loud sound is at the house. Mia and Leo did not like it.
Mia and Leo sat on the ground. They are proud.
Leo can count. Mia can count too. Mia and Leo count and count.
Out shout cloud found sound round mouth count house mouse south.
How to teach it
- Say the sound on its own first, several times, before showing any letters.
- Show the spelling and name it explicitly — tell the reader what it says rather than asking them to work it out.
- Blend two or three words from the list together, out loud, slowly.
- Read the decodable book above, where the pattern repeats in real sentences.
- Come back to it two or three days later. Cumulative review is what makes it stick.
Lessons that practise this pattern
ou diphthong
Read ou as in out and sound
Word sort: ou vs ow
Sort words that say the same ou/ow sound by spelling
Diphthong review: oi, oy, ou, ow
Mixed review of every diphthong spelling taught so far