Correct Response: A. Reading research indicates that there are stages to reading development. The student in this scenario is just beginning to develop literacy skills in English, resulting in the teacher's need to promote skills associated with the earliest stages of reading development. Decoding skills are essential skills that beginning readers need in order to build a solid foundation for reading. In addition, using meaningful texts that primarily contain phonetically regular words and sight words is a best practice that reinforces students' developing phonics skills and fluency. B, C, and D are incorrect because these focus on academic language and concept development rather than on development of foundational reading skills, which should be the top priority for this student.
