When reviewing words like said, are, and they, what concept should the teacher emphasize?

Emphasizing that words like "said," "are," and "they" do not follow phonics rules is essential because these words are commonly referred to as sight words or high-frequency irregular words. These words often do not adhere to standard phonetic patterns, which means their pronunciation and spelling can't be predicted based on typical phonics rules. As a result, teaching these words requires a different strategy than the phonics approach, focusing instead on recognition and memorization.

When children learn to recognize these irregular words quickly, they can improve their reading fluency, as these words often appear in texts quite frequently. This recognition allows young readers to focus on comprehension rather than decoding every single word, leading to a smoother reading experience.

In contrast, while the other concepts could apply in some contexts, they do not capture the essential nature of how these particular words function in early literacy development. For instance, they are not phonetic and easy to spell, they are not compound words, and learning them through imagery alone does not adequately address the need for recognizing their unique spelling and pronunciation.