According to evidence-based best practices, which phoneme segmentation activity should be last in the instructional sequence?

The activity of segmenting phonemes in words with consonant blends should be last in the instructional sequence because it requires a higher level of auditory processing and phonemic awareness compared to the other options. Consonant blends, which consist of two or more consonants appearing together in a word where each sound is heard (like "str" in "street"), demand a more sophisticated understanding of how individual phonemes combine within more complex structures.

By the time students reach this stage, they should already have mastered simpler tasks, such as isolating sounds in two-phoneme words or identifying phonemes in simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. This progressive layering of skills ensures that learners have built the necessary foundational phonemic awareness before tackling more challenging tasks. Furthermore, understanding blends involves not only recognizing individual phonemes but also being able to manipulate them in conjunction with each other, which solidifies the complexity of phonemic segmentation skills needed at this level.