What does sound to symbol instruction primarily focus on?

Sound to symbol instruction primarily focuses on phoneme to grapheme correspondence. This instructional approach is designed to help students understand how individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken language correspond to letters or groups of letters (graphemes) in written language. By developing this connection, students enhance their decoding skills, enabling them to read more effectively. This foundational skill is critical for literacy development as it allows learners to translate sounds into written text, facilitating both reading and spelling.

The other options, while relevant to literacy, do not specifically capture the essence of sound to symbol instruction. Connecting sounds to visuals may involve using images to represent sounds but does not emphasize the direct relationship between sounds and letters. Creating story maps and identifying narrative structure are more related to comprehension and organizing ideas within texts, rather than the sound-letter correspondence fundamental to reading skills. Therefore, the focus on phoneme to grapheme correspondence is what defines sound to symbol instruction.