Your friend, Jason, is a concerned father and he would like to do all that he can to help his 4-year-old daughter, Gwen, learn to read. What can you tell Jason about pre-reading skills that are related to more skilled reading in first grade?

What will be an ideal response?

A good answer will be similar to the following:
Kindergarten children who know most of their letters and who can easily distinguish the sounds that the different letters make are more skilled readers as first graders. Jason can help Gwen master these skills by playing games with her that involve identifying the letters of the alphabet. Jason also can read books, such as Dr. Seuss or nursery rhymes, which contain rhymes that will increase her phonological awareness. Playing word games that involve identifying different letter sounds in words also will increase Gwen's phonological awareness. As Jason reads to Gwen he can tell her about the names of letters and the sounds they make. The message is clear — read to children (the more, the better) — reading to children promotes phonological awareness and early reading skill.