What does effective phonics instruction require from students?

The correct choice emphasizes the foundational aspect of phonics instruction, which involves teaching students how to associate sounds (phonemes) with their corresponding letters or letter combinations (graphemes). This process is critical for developing reading skills, as it equips students with the ability to decode words. Through practice, students learn to recognize these sound-letter relationships, which enables them to sound out unfamiliar words and ultimately aids in improving their reading fluency and comprehension.

Effective phonics instruction goes beyond mere memorization of sight words—while sight words are an important component of literacy, understanding sound-letter relationships is essential for students to read new or complex words. Additionally, recognition of spelling rules and complex grammatical structures are more advanced skills that build on the foundational knowledge acquired through phonics. Therefore, focusing on learning sound-letter relationships through practice is key to developing strong reading abilities in students.