Five modules of instruction in the reading-to-do strand included how to read and use tables of contents, indexes, tables and graphs found in the job materials, how to locate and read specifications, etc. in the body of a manual, how to read and follow procedural directions, and how to complete job forms using the information in the manuals and on the forms themselves.

Each module was preceded by a pre-test which, if passed, permitted the person to move on to the pre-test for the next module. If the pre-test was failed, then the person entered the module, completed 10 self-study worksheets, and then took a post-test. If the person failed the post-test, a second set of 10 worksheets was completed and a different version of the post-test was taken. This time, whether the post-test joint criteria of 90 or more correct in 20 or fewer minutes was reached, the person was moved on to the next module to ensure that each student spent some time on each module.

The reading-to-learn curriculum strand of the FLIT program differed in several significant ways from the reading-to-do strand. While the reading-to-do strand was an individualized, self-paced, mastery-oriented instructional sequence, the reading-to-learn strand was a teacher-oriented, group-paced, open-ended program designed to help students work together in teams and as individuals to comprehend and learn from training materials and job manuals.

To read for learning, people must be prepared in at least two ways: they must have the knowledge base to comprehend the material to be learned, and they must possess knowledge of strategies and methods for studying materials and relating what they read to what they already know.

To promote the development of a relevant knowledge base that would help students learn better from their job training materials, the reading-to-learn curriculum strand included specially developed materials that were written at a lower reading difficulty level (e.g., 9th instead of-11th-14th grades) and that incorporated the basic concepts and topics within a given job training program. The basic concepts for the six job fields in the functional literacy program were identified through the study of job skills training program curriculum guides, materials, and consultation with job training instructors. In each job reading program, 12 major topic areas were identified, and specific knowledge objectives were developed for each topic area.

For each of the 12 job topics, a 300-400 word passage was written that included the knowledge objectives for the topic area. The passages were written without the redundancy and elaboration typical of textbooks, because in the reading-to-learn activities students performed repeated readings of the materials, sometimes alone and at other times with teams, to construct different representations of the information in the passage. For instance, a medical specialist would be assigned to read the topic passage on First Aid and to then draw pictures illustrating what the written passage said. Then, the student would study the passage again to prepare a flow chart of the four lifesaver steps in first aid.

In addition to the above activities, students were also engaged in reading passages that contained types of equipment, their uses, advantages , disadvantages, and so forth. Then, by studying the passages students constructed tables (matrices) with columns and rows and cells that could be filled in using the content of the passage. Through these "representation transformation" activities, students performed multiple readings of texts and elaborated them by constructing pictures, matrices, or flow charts. The latter activities required that the new knowledge in the passages be "mixed" with the student's prior knowledge for full comprehension to occur.