If students cannot articulate a rule for dropping silent 'e', what should the teacher prompt them to do?

When students struggle to articulate a rule for dropping a silent 'e', prompting them to examine consonant and vowel patterns of base words and suffixes is particularly beneficial. This approach encourages learners to engage with the structural components of the words they are working with. By focusing on these patterns, students can develop a more intuitive understanding of how adding suffixes may influence the pronunciation and formation of words, especially how the presence of a silent 'e' affects the preceding vowel sound.

This examination helps solidify foundational spelling concepts and assists students in recognizing systematic relationships in word construction. Understanding vowel/consonant relationships will allow students to generalize rules rather than simply memorize them, fostering deeper cognitive processing related to spelling and phonics.

Other options could provide insights or support learning in different areas, but focusing on consonant/vowel patterns directly addresses the immediate difficulty students face with the silent 'e' rule in a practical and analysis-driven manner.