Correct Response: B. The activity described in the scenario contributes to students' beginning reading development by reinforcing their ability to distinguish the initial phoneme in a spoken word and to map that sound to print. By reinforcing letter-sound correspondences for the initial consonant in the target words, the teacher is promoting the children's understanding of the alphabetic principle. Option A is incorrect because the representation of word boundaries in text is not explicitly addressed in the activity. Option C is incorrect because, while the activity highlights the beginning consonant of words, the teacher does not segment the words into individual phonemes. Option D is incorrect because the teacher does not demonstrate phonemic blending skills in this activity.
