A teacher is working with a group of kindergarten students on their phonological awareness. Which of the following activities would best develop students' understanding of phoneme segmentation?

The activity that involves asking students to break the word "cat" into individual sounds effectively develops phoneme segmentation because it directly engages students in identifying and isolating each phoneme in the word. Phoneme segmentation is the ability to separate a word into its individual sounds, which is a crucial skill for reading and spelling. In this case, students would identify the sounds /k/, /æ/, and /t/, which helps them understand the components that make up the word.

This activity allows young learners to practice breaking down words, an essential step in developing their phonological awareness and foundational literacy skills. It provides a straightforward, hands-on way for students to visually and audibly engage with the sounds that comprise spoken language. This skill is foundational for later reading success, as it directly links to recognizing letter sounds and building words.