Final answer:
The target phonics skill in the text is related to understanding the length of vowels in the VCCle pattern indicating a short vowel and the VCle pattern indicating a long vowel, influenced by the presence of a silent 'e'. Option e is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Based on the information provided in the text, the target phonics skill appears to involve the understanding of vowel lengths in various letter patterns. When looking at the VCCle pattern and the VCle pattern, we see different pronunciations of vowels.
The pattern VCCle, as in words like 'slept' and 'dense', indicates a short vowel sound. Conversely, the VCle pattern, as in words such as 'me' and 'beam', shows a long vowel sound. In the provided words without dle or ddle and in the VCCle pattern, the first vowel is always short. This contrasts with the VCle pattern, where the long vowels are evident.
The concept of silent e is also touched upon, as it can affect the pronunciation of preceding consonants, indicating a soft pronunciation as in the example of the letter g in 'geography'. This is aligned with the concept that a silent final e can influence the sound of the preceding consonant. Words like 'gable' and 'rifle' serve to illustrate the VCle and VCCle patterns, respectively, with 'gable' having a long vowel due to the silent e and 'rifle' having a short vowel.
Therefore, referring back to the question, the correct option that represents the target phonics skill is A. Silent e.