Which of the following is an example of a rime?

The correct response is indeed the "at" in "cat," and this serves as a clear example of a rime. A rime refers to the part of a syllable that includes its vowel and any following consonants, effectively making it the phonetic ending of a word. In "cat," the rime is "at," which provides the sound that is central to the word's pronunciation.

The other options do not exemplify rimes; they consist solely of single consonant sounds that do not include a vowel or form a complete rime structure. For instance, the "c" in "cat," "c" in "school," and "s" in "sand" are all individual consonant sounds, lacking the vowel component necessary to create a rime. Understanding how rimes function within words is crucial in phonics and reading instruction, as they play a key role in word recognition and spelling patterns.