Which of the following best describes the phonological skill the student is practicing?

Blending refers to the ability to combine individual sounds or syllables to form words. For example, a student practicing blending would take the sounds /c/, /a/, and /t/ and combine them to identify the word "cat." This skill focuses on the integration of sounds rather than their removal.

Segmenting is the process of breaking down words into their individual sounds or phonemes. For instance, a student practicing segmenting would take the word "dog" and identify the sounds /d/, /o/, and /g/. This skill emphasizes sound separation rather than the act of deleting sounds from words.

Substituting involves changing one sound in a word to create a new word. For example, changing the /b/ in "bat" to /h/ would yield "hat." This skill focuses on replacing sounds rather than the specific action of deleting them from words.