In the described first-grade reading lesson, the primary purpose of steps 1 through 4 is to help students learn which of the following?

• A. Sound blending
• B. Sight vocabulary
• C. Structural analysis
• D. Letter-sound correspondence

Answer: (B)

Recognizing common words by sight is what steps 1 through 4 aim to build. In first grade, reading fluently hinges on seeing high-frequency words instantly so that the brain can focus on meaning rather than decoding every word. When students encounter a sight word automatically, it speeds up reading and supports comprehension because they don’t have to pause to sound out each word.

The activities described typically involve repeated exposure to a set of frequent words, quick checks or games to reinforce recognition, and reading passages that include those words. This approach strengthens the reader’s bank of sight vocabulary, making future reading smoother and more fluent.

By contrast, decoding-focused skills like blending sounds to form words, analyzing word parts, or linking letters to sounds are not the primary emphasis of these steps. Those are valuable skills, but the described sequence is centered on building automatic word recognition rather than phonics or structural analysis.