A kindergarten teacher wants to promote students' understanding of the alphabetic principle. Which of the following would be the most effective first step in a sequence of instruction designed to achieve this goal?

Select one:
A. Put labels on several familiar objects in the classroom and regularly read the labels aloud to the students.
B. Have students trace both lowercase and uppercase letters of the alphabet and then practice reproducing the letters on their own.
C. Talk with students about the title, beginning, middle, and end of a story and point to these parts while reading the story aloud from a big book.
D. Talk with students about selected consonants using a series of posters that each feature one consonant and contain pictures of items whose initial phoneme demonstrates that consonant's sound.