Correct Response: A. The alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters represent the sounds (phonemes) of spoken language and that phonemes have a predictable, systematic relationship to letters and letter combinations. Evidence indicates that students' understanding of the alphabetic principle is reinforced and enhanced by having opportunities to apply their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences in both reading and writing—the latter by using phonetic spellings. Option B is incorrect because providing children with meaningful opportunities to write tends to be motivating rather than discouraging for beginning readers. Option C is incorrect because, at this stage of development, children would not be expected to spell words correctly but rather to apply their letter-sound knowledge to spell words phonetically, which promotes their reading progress. Option D is incorrect because children's phonetic spellings would not consistently match the conventional spellings used in texts, so engaging in this writing activity would not promote automatic word recognition.
