A student can blend sounds together to form a word. What should be the next focus of instruction?

Focusing on identifying letter-sound correspondences is a logical next step after a student demonstrates the ability to blend sounds to form words. Once a student can successfully blend sounds, reinforcing the connection between letters and their corresponding sounds will enhance their decoding skills. Understanding letter-sound relationships is crucial for independent reading and spelling as it enables students to decode new words effectively.

By concentrating on letter-sound correspondences, students will gain a stronger foundation in phonics, allowing them to apply their blending skills to read and write words accurately. This connection is essential for building overall literacy skills, facilitating a smoother transition to more complex reading tasks.

In contrast, recognizing key parts of a book, recalling the alphabet sequence, and tracking text directionality, while important aspects of reading instruction, do not directly support the immediate need to enhance phonemic awareness and decoding skills following the ability to blend sounds.