What does the alphabetic principle help students understand?

The alphabetic principle is a fundamental concept in reading that establishes the relationship between spoken sounds (phonemes) and written symbols (letters). It helps students comprehend that the sounds in spoken language can be mapped to specific letters and groups of letters in written language. This understanding is crucial for developing decoding skills, which allows learners to sound out words while reading.

By mastering the alphabetic principle, students gain the ability to recognize how different sounds correspond to letters and blends, facilitating their reading development. This understanding is foundational for literacy, enabling students to decode unfamiliar words, thus enhancing their overall reading proficiency. In contrast, other choices do not accurately capture the essence of the alphabetic principle; for example, while reading does involve visual processing, it is not solely a visual process, and the other options focus on writing or sentence organization rather than the direct relationship between sounds and letters.