Reading word play books to students primarily promotes which type of development?

Reading word play books to students primarily promotes phonological awareness because these types of books often emphasize sound patterns, rhymes, and the playful manipulation of words. Phonological awareness involves recognizing and working with sounds in spoken language, which includes identifying and creating rhymes, syllables, and phonemes.

Word play books engage students by using language in creative and sometimes nonsensical ways, which encourages them to listen closely to the sounds of words. This heightened attention to sounds can help students develop crucial skills needed for reading, as they begin to segment and blend sounds, recognize rhymes, and understand the rhythm of language. While vocabulary development, comprehension skills, and writing skills are also important, the primary focus of word play books is to enhance students' abilities to hear and manipulate sounds, thus fostering phonological awareness.