Ace the Arizona Educator Proficiency Test 2025 – Teach, Inspire, Succeed!

Providing additional phonemic awareness instruction is particularly advantageous for a student like John who is struggling with reading the word "reach." Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This skill is foundational for reading, as it helps students decode words by sounding them out.

By focusing on phonemic awareness, John can develop a better understanding of how sounds work in conjunction with one another to form words. For instance, breaking down "reach" into its constituent sounds /r/, /i:/, and /ch/ can help John recognize and accurately pronounce the word. This kind of targeted instruction can illuminate patterns in language, improve decoding skills, and ultimately enhance reading fluency.

Other instructional techniques like engaging in group reading sessions, encouraging silent reading, or using more complex texts might not directly address the specific challenge John is facing with the word "reach." While these methods can contribute to overall literacy skills and confidence, they may not provide the focused support needed for phoneme recognition and articulation at this juncture. Thus, additional phonemic awareness instruction is the most effective strategy to help John overcome his reading difficulties.