Which activity most directly supports decoding unfamiliar words?

• A. Re-reading a familiar text several times
• B. Guessing words from pictures
• C. Memorizing whole word lists
• D. Explicit instruction in phoneme-grapheme correspondence and blending

Answer: (D)

Decoding unfamiliar words depends on knowing how sounds map to letters and being able to blend those sounds smoothly to pronounce the word. Explicit instruction in phoneme-grapheme correspondence teaches exactly which sounds each letter or letter combination makes, and blending practice shows how to join those sounds into a spoken word. This direct, systematic approach gives students a reliable toolkit for decoding new words they encounter.

Re-reading a familiar text mainly helps with fluency of known words rather than teaching how to decode new ones. Guessing words from pictures relies on context or visual clues rather than sound-letter relationships. Memorizing whole word lists builds recognition of familiar words, not the skill of decoding unfamiliar spellings.