Small-group instruction is centered on reading fiction and nonfiction at appropriate levels. Initially, in instruction for emerging readers (Sets 1-5), the focus is on comprehension, high-frequency words, and reading simple consonant-vowel-consonant words. As the lessons progress, the focus remains on comprehension, but increasingly challenging phonics and high-frequency words are introduced gradually. Strategies such as checking illustrations to confirm what is read and reading with prosody are informally introduced. After students complete the foundational skills continuum in Sets 1–5, they transition into Small-Group Comprehension, where instruction is targeted specifically to reading strategies such as comprehension, reading with prosody, self-monitoring and self-correcting, and generating independent thinking about books.