TEXES Science of Teaching Reading Practice Test 2026 - Free Practice Questions and Exam Study Guide

The strategy that involves modeling how to hold a book right-side-up and turn the pages one at a time primarily focuses on book handling skills and print awareness rather than directly fostering phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness specifically refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in words.

In contrast, the other instructional strategies actively engage students in recognizing and manipulating sounds, which are critical components of phonemic awareness. For example, segmenting sentences into individual words reinforces the understanding of word boundaries, playing rhyming games helps students hear and produce rhyme and sound patterns, and identifying initial sounds in tongue twisters develops the ability to discern sounds within words.

Since phonemic awareness is foundational for later reading success, the technique related to book handling does not contribute to developing this crucial skill, making it the least beneficial option in this context.