This study investigated the effects of highly decodable text and coordinated phonics instruction on first graders' word recognition strategies. The quantitative study sought to examine the validity of a major claim about highly decodable text--that it enables readers to apply phonics instruction to a greater extent than less decodable text. All participants received the same fourteen-day phonics instruction. However, participants read either highly decodable or less decodable text following the instruction. Treatment participants reading highly decodable text were found to apply letter/sound knowledge to a greater extent than control participants. They also were more accurate and relied on examiners less for assistance. Treatment and control participants did not differ in self-correction rates. As a replication of an earlier study, this work suggested that readers with knowledge of the alphabetic principle, given the same phonics instruction, will apply it more in a highly decodable context.