Final answer:
The teacher likely chose 'snake' over 'ship' due to phonetic reasons such as different initial sounds or vowel sounds. 'Ship' does not contain the target sound if the focus was on the initial '/sn/' sound, while the length of the word and visualization are less relevant for this type of exercise.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question appears to be related to phonics, specifically to the sounds that letters or combinations of letters make in English words. The decision not to use "ship" as a keyword instead of "snake" can be due to several phonetic reasons. Without further context, we can speculate that the "target sound" the teacher focused on was likely the initial sound or perhaps a particular vowel sound. "Snake" and "ship" begin with different sounds, '/sn/' and '/ʃ/' respectively. Moreover, they contain different vowel sounds, "snake" with a long 'a' sound and "ship" with a short 'i' sound. If the emphasis was on visualizing the word, it might not be as relevant unless the target was indeed on initial phonemes or another aspect unrelated to visualization.
Let's consider the potential reasons why "ship" wasn't the chosen word:
A. "Ship" has a different ending sound. This could be a reason if the focus was on words that have a specific ending sound that 'ship' does not have.
B. "Ship" does not contain the target sound. If the target sound was the initial '/sn/' as in "snake", then 'ship' would not contain this sound and thus wouldn't be chosen.
C. "Ship" is a longer word than "snake." Length is not typically a determinant in phonics instruction unless there are specific restrictions in the exercise.
D. "Ship" is not easily visualized. This seems less likely as both 'ship' and 'snake' are common and easily visualizable objects.
Given the information provided, the most likely correct options related to phonics would be B "Ship" does not contain the target sound and possibly A if the ending sound was crucial in the chosen keyword.