There are three main phases of a lesson that are used to specifically target and develop the CRITICAL THINKING aspects of the human brain. The use of specific strategies are used in conjunction with AVID strategies in order to engage students in the learning of content in order to turn that information into knowledge. There are several key aspects why specific strategies are used during the "Pre Phase" of learning including:

1. FOCUS on the content

2. IDENTIFY  purpose for reading

3. ACTIVATE prior knowledge, questions, and beliefs in relation to content

4. PREDICT what text is about

5. ACQUIRE essential vocabulary

The pre-phase should be a bulk of the lesson with about 60 to 70% of the instructional focus on the pre-phase of learning.