During phonics, spelling, and word study, explicit and systematic teaching, application, and sharing are provided both during a separate, dedicated time for "out-of-text" teaching and during "in-text" instructional contexts throughout the school day. 

In an alphabet language such as English, phonics describes the relationship between the sounds of language and its graphic symbols, i.e., the letters. When students learn these relationships, they are able to "decode" print more efficiently. For example, students see the letter a at the beginning of a word and know that this symbol often stands for the sound /a/, the sounds at the beginning of the words ask, apple, astronaut, and many others.

During guided reading, students in a small-group setting individually read a text that  has been selected. The teacher provides teaching across the lesson to support students in building in-the-head networks of strategic actions for processing increasingly challenging texts. 

A small group of students who are at a similar point in their reading development are seated at a small table with the teacher. Each student reads, softly or silently, the same text individually. The students are guided in a discussion of the texts meaning and teaching points are based on the teachers' observations and assessments of the students' reading strengths and needs. 

During book clubs, students meet in small, heterogeneous groups to discuss a book that they have all read or listened to. Through sharing their thinking, they build a richer understanding than any one student could gain from independent reading alone.

During independent reading, students read books of their choosing for a sustained period of time. Minilessons, brief conferences, and opportunities to share thinking support students' engagement with books and increase their competencies.