Vowel Team Spelling Generalizations: OI/OY, OU/OW, AU/AW Explained

One of the biggest frustrations for students learning to spell is realizing that the same sound can often be spelled more than one way. Why is it coin but boy? Cloud but cow? Auto but paw?

This is where vowel team generalizations become incredibly helpful.

Vowel team generalizations are vowel teams that make the same sound but tend to follow patterns for where they are used within words. Instead of students feeling like spelling is completely random, these patterns give them a logical starting point for choosing which vowel team is most likely to fit.

There are three common vowel team generalizations taught in Orton-Gillingham:

• OI/OY saying /oi/ as in oil and boy
• OU/OW saying /ou/ as in out and cow
• AU/AW saying /ô/ as in auto and paw

The important thing to understand is that these vowel teams are not random pairs of letters. Their position in the word often helps determine which spelling is used. That positional pattern is what makes them “generalizations.”

They are not perfect “works every time” rules, but they are powerful tools that help students read and spell words more confidently.

When do you use each Vowel Team Generalization?

OI/OY Generalization

• Use oi at the beginning or in the middle of a word for the “oi” sound.
• Use oy at the end of a word for the “oi” sound.

OU/OW Generalization

• Use ou at the beginning or in the middle of a word for the “ou” sound.
• Use ow at the end of a word for the “ou” sound.
• If a single l, n, el, or er follows the “ou” sound at the end of a word, use ow.

AU/AW Generalization

• Use au at the beginning or in the middle of a word for the “ô” sound.
• Use aw at the end of a word for the “ô” sound.
• If a single l, n, or k follows the “ô” sound at the end of the word, use aw.

In what order are they taught?

There are many OG Scope & Sequences around, but the way I have them listed in Scope & Sequence is: OI/OY, OU/OW, and AU/AW

These are not just spelling rules to memorize. These are vowel teams first. The generalization simply helps students understand where those vowel teams are most commonly used within words.

These vowel teams have rules with their sounds, so teaching them together for the audible portion of learning is very good. You can say, “When you hear the sound “oi,” it will be OI/OY…”, “When you hear the sound “ou,” it will be OU/OW…”, “When you hear the sound ““ô”, it will be AU/AW…”,

This can get tricky because OU and OW make more than just the “ou” sound. OU can say “oo” as in soup, and OW can say long o, as in snow. You would teach sounds of the vowel team before you teach the generalization, so the student knows the generalization is a branch of the sound “ou.”

Always teach the sounds as vowel teams before teaching as a Generalization Rule.

Are there other vowel teams with generalizations?

While there are other vowel teams that make the same sounds and probably are in general positions (like ea/ey saying long e), to my knowledge, Generalization Rules apply only to those taught here.

What’s the best way to teach generalizations?

Generalizations should be discussed and dissected verbally and auditorily, as well as written, before going into just the written portion.

This is not a concept to introduce and then immediately hand students a fill-in-the-blank worksheet. Students need to hear the patterns, discuss them, read them, write them, and use them in sentences before the spelling patterns truly begin to stick.

One more thing… there are no exceptions to there being exceptions.

There are exceptions to every rule; every, every rule. There is no perfect rule. So, if you teach generalizations or any spelling rule, know that they are guides to help with the general way words work.

If you have a student ask, why is powder spelled with -ow instead of -ou and it isn’t followed by any of the letters you said, you can say, “every rule has exceptions.” (In fact, ou/ow rule has foul, crowd, chowder, coward, powder as exceptions to the rule – they all have exceptions.)

No-Prep resources for lessons