In a structured phonics lesson, which sequence is most appropriate?

• A. Teach letter-sound correspondences, practice blending to read, then segmenting to spell
• B. Read a book aloud, then spell words from memory
• C. Teach upper- and lowercase letter names only
• D. Have students guess words from pictures

Answer: (A)

A structured phonics lesson works best when it follows an explicit progression: first teach the letter-sound relationships so students know which sounds map to which letters, then give them practice blending those sounds to read words, and finally guide them through segmenting sounds to spell words. This sequence builds both decoding and encoding skills in a way that's connected and cumulative. Knowing the sounds lays the foundation for blending to form words, and practicing segmenting reinforces how to spell by mapping sounds to letters. Other options skip essential steps: simply reading aloud and spelling from memory doesn’t provide systematic phonics instruction; teaching only letter names without linking them to sounds won’t support decoding or encoding; and guessing words from pictures isn’t a structured phonics approach and doesn’t teach sound-letter correspondence.