A phonogram, or rime, is a spelling pattern or word family. These are the 37 most frequently used patterns (Wylie and Durrell, 1970). From these patterns, a child can master 500 primary words.

-ack          back, lack, pack, quack, sack, tack, black, crack, knack, shack, slack, stack, track

-ail          ail, bail, fail, hail, jail, mail, nail, pail, rail, sail, tail, wail, flail, frail, snail, trail

-ain         lain, main, pain, rain, vain, brain, chain, drain, gain, grain, plain, slain, Spain, sprain, stain, strain, train

-ake      bake, cake, lake make, quake, take, brake, drake, flake, shake, snake, stake, sake

-ale       bale, dale, gale, hale, male, pale, sale, tale, scale, shale, stale, whale

-ame      came, dame, fame, game, lame, name, same, tame, blame, flame, frame, shame

-an        an, ban, can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van, bran, clan, flan, plan, scan, span, than

-ank      bank, lank, rank, sank, tank, yank, blank, clank, crank, drank, flank, plank, prank, shrank, spank, thank

-ap        cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, yap, chap, clap, flap, scrap, slap, snap, strap, trap, wrap

-ash     ash, bash, cash, crash, dash, gash, hash, lash, mash, rash, sash, brash

-at       at, bat, cat, fat, gnat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, tat, vat, brat, chat, flat, that

-ate      ate, date, fate, gate, hate, late, mate, rate, crate, grate, plate, skate, state

-aw      caw, gnaw, jaw, law, paw, raw, saw, claw, draw, flaw, slaw, squaw, straw

-ay       bay, day, gay, hay, jay, lay, may, pay, ray, say, way, bray, clay

-eat      beat, feat, heat, meat, neat, peat, seat, bleat, cheat, cleat, pleat, treat, wheat

-ell       bell, cell, dell, dwell, fell, jell, knell, sell, tell, well, yell, quell, shell, smell, spell, swell

-est      best, guest, jest, lest, nest, pest, rest, test, vest, west, zest, blest, chest, crest, quest, wrest

-ice      dice, ice, lice, mice, nice, rice, vice, price, slice, spice, splice, twice, thrice

-ick      kick, lick, pick, quick, sick, tick, wick, brick, chick, click, flick, slick, stick, thick, trick

-ide      bide, hide, ride, side, tide, wide, bride, chide, glide, pride, slide, snide, stride

-ight     knight, light, might, night, right, sight, tight, blight, bright, flight, fright, plight, slight

-ill        bill, dill, fill, gill, hill, ill, Jill, kill, mill, pill, quill, rill, sill, till, will, chill, drill, frill, grill, skill, spill, still, swill, thrill, trill, twill

-in        bin, din, fin, gin, kin, pin, sin, tin, win, chin, grin, shin, skin, spin, thin, twin

-ine      dine, fine, line, mine, nine, pine, tine, vine, wine, brine, shine, shrine, spine, swine, whine

-ing      ding, king, ping, ring, sing, wing, zing, bring, cling, fling, sling, spring, sting, string, swing, thing, wring

-ink      kink, link, mink, pink, rink, sink, wink, blink, brink, chink, clink, drink, shrink, slink, stink, think

-ip        dip, hip, lip, nip, quip, rip, sip, tip, zip, blip, chip, clip, drip, flip, grip, ship, skip, slip, snip, strip, trip, whip

-it         bit, hit, fit, kit, knit, lit, pit, quit, sit, wit, flit, grit, skit, slit, spit, split, twit

-ock      dock, hock, knock, lock, mock, rock, sock, tock, block, clock, crock, flock, frock, shock, smock, stock

-oke      joke, poke, woke, yoke, broke, choke, smoke, spoke, stoke, stroke

-op       bop, cop, hop, mop, pop, sop, top, chop, crop, drop, flop, plop, prop, shop, slop, stop

-ore      bore, core, fore, gore, more, pore, sore, tore, wore, chore, score, shore, snore, spore, store, swore

-ot       cot, dot, got, hot, jot, knot, lot, not, pot, rot, tot, blot, clot, plot, shot, slot, spot, trot

-uck     buck, duck, lick, muck, puck, suck, tuck, cluck, pluck, shuck, stuck, struck, truck

-ug       bug, dug, hug, jug, lug, mug, pug, rug, tug, chug, drug, plug, shrug, slug, smug, snug, thug

-ump    bump, dump, hump, jump, lump, pump, chump, clump, frump, grump, plump, slump, stump, thump, trump

-unk     bunk, dunk, funk, hunk, junk, punk, sunk, chunk, flunk, plunk, shrunk, skunk, slunk, spunk, stunk, trunk