Final answer:
The activity involving breaking down the word 'jam' into individual sounds and blending them is a form of phonics instruction, which focuses on decoding words by understanding the relationship between sounds and their corresponding letters.
Step-by-step explanation:
Working with the word 'jam' and breaking it down into sounds for each letter, then blending them to form the word, is a form of phonics instruction. This teaching method involves the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and their spellings (graphemes), and is fundamental in teaching students to read by sound. Students learn to decode words by sounding out the letters and blending the sounds to say the word. The instruction on identifying individual sounds (phonemic awareness), understanding the letter-sound relationship (phonics), and putting it together to read the word (decoding) are crucial components of literacy. The term 'sight words' refers to words that are commonly recognized by sight rather than sounded out.