The Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) year-long course is organized into three discipline-specific units—English language arts, history, and science—each of which supports the integration of literacy and subject area instruction.

Within and across the three units, students read increasingly complex text and apply their growing repertoire of literacy skills with increasing flexibility and control. In addition, a carefully scaffolded program of sustained silent reading is provided for each unit, building reader enjoyment, independence, stamina, and persistence.