Diphthong Sounds (oi, oy, ou, ow)
Identify and produce diphthong sounds in single-syllable words.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Teach the position rule, because it is genuinely reliable. Oi and ou appear in the middle of a word — coin, cloud — and oy and ow appear at the end — boy, cow. Sort the sixteen by that rule and let the student see it hold. Enjoy is the useful test case, since the sound is at the end of the word even though the word is long. Ten minutes covers the sixteen with the sorting step.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to read it.Log as correct
- Point to itPoint to the letter pattern that matters, or tap under each sound.Log as cued
- Sound it outSay the first sound together, then let the student blend the rest.Log as cued
- ModelRead it, tapping each sound; the student reads it after you.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer cards and start with the patterns the student already reads, such as 'coin' and 'join'.
Read the words in a sentence, or spell them from dictation.
Matching IEP goal
Given decodable word cards, such as 'coin' and 'join', Student will read the target pattern accurately in 8 of 10 words across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Sixteen words covering four diphthong spellings: coin, join, boil and soil for oi; boy, toy, joy and enjoy for oy; cloud, house, mouse and found for ou; cow, now, brown and town for ow. Two sounds, four spellings — and the pairing is regular in a way students can actually use, which is the reason to teach them together.
What to listen for
Watch for the vowel being read as two separate sounds. A diphthong glides from one vowel to another within a single syllable, and a student who reads cloud as clo-ud has split it. Notice the ow spelling, which is the one genuine ambiguity here — it makes the sound in cow and a different one in snow — and is worth flagging so the student is not surprised later.
Carrying it home
These words are common: house, town, boy, cow. Pointing out that oi and oy make the same sound in different places is a one-sentence explanation that clears up a lot of spelling confusion.
What's in this activity
- coin
- join
- boil
- soil
- boy
- toy
- joy
- enjoy
- cloud
- house
- mouse
- found
- cow
- now
- brown
- town
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second and third, as part of structured phonics work on vowel teams.
- Do I need to sign up?
- No, all sixteen words play free.
- How do students know whether to write oi or oy?
- Position. Oi goes in the middle of a word and oy at the end — coin and boy. The same rule holds for ou and ow, with the exception that ow also appears in the middle of some words.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.