The goal of this paper is to present a lesson plan on abstracts and to analyze how the tasks implement pedagogical principles and guidelines based on the Academic Literacy Studies (LEA; STREET, 1998, 2006; LILLIS, 2001). The didactic material was developed for a course in the scope of Affirmative Actions in a Brazilian federal university, a pedagogical action in the area of language aiming to support the permanency of indigenous students until graduation. Based on the perspective of the Academic Literacy Studies and on pedagogical guidelines that focus on social practices (RGS, 2009), we synthesize principles to guide course design and propose guidelines for creating reading tasks. Next we analyze how these guidelines were put into practice in the didactic material. Finally, we highlight some contributions of the pedagogical proposal to facing the challenges posed by the implementation of policies that support the expansion of the participation of minority groups in higher education.