Which indicator describes identifying the sounds of a few letters?

• A. Recognizes and names as many as 10 letters
• B. Produces the correct sounds for 10-20 letters
• C. Identifies letter-sound correspondences
• D. Identifies the sounds of a few letters

Answer: (D)

Identifying the sounds associated with letters is an early phonics skill. It shows that a learner can connect a visible letter to its spoken sound, even if only for a small set of letters. This basic letter-sound knowledge is a foundational step toward decoding and reading, because once a child can map a few letters to sounds, they can start blending those sounds to form simple words. The other options describe broader or different skills—naming many letters, producing sounds for a larger number of letters, or knowing letter-sound correspondences across the alphabet—whereas identifying the sounds of a few letters exactly captures the beginner level of phonics progress.