More Complex Texts
Fiction, science, biography, argument, and paired passages require different kinds of thinking.
Advanced Reading CourseGrades 5–8
Future-Proof Your Child's Reading
Build the advanced reading skills needed for increasingly difficult schoolwork, standardized tests, and high school - years ahead of time.
Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation10 WeeksLive Online Instruction1-on-1 or Small Group
Created and taught by David Marrufo, MA
COURSE CREATOR & INSTRUCTOR
David Marrufo, MAB.A. English, Highest HonorsUC BerkeleyM.A. PhilosophySan Francisco State University
20+YEARSTEACHING
Prepare Them for What Comes Next
Reading Gets Harder Long Before Test Prep Begins
As students move through middle school, the reading demands change quickly. Passages become longer. Ideas become more abstract. Students are expected to compare texts, analyze perspective, evaluate arguments, interpret scientific explanations, and support their answers with strong evidence.
Many students are never explicitly taught a system for doing this.
The Advanced Reading Course teaches those skills before the pressure of high school coursework and SAT or ACT preparation begins.
Deeper Analysis
Students move beyond what happened to explain why ideas, evidence, and perspectives matter.
Greater Independence
As coursework becomes more demanding, students solve reading problems with less teacher guidance.
ARC gives students a repeatable framework for approaching those demands with confidence.
A Different Kind of Reading Program
Build the Skill Before the Test
Traditional tutoring helps with the assignment in front of a student. Traditional test prep often starts later and emphasizes timing, practice tests, and exam-specific strategy. ARC begins earlier and builds the underlying skills students need across school and future standardized tests.
Immediate support
Traditional Tutoring
- Helps with current assignments
- Often works one passage at a time
- Solves immediate academic problems
- May not provide a larger reading framework
Exam-specific practice
Traditional Test Prep
- Often begins in Grades 9-10
- Focuses on specific exams
- Emphasizes pacing and question strategy
- Assumes many reading skills are already in place
A durable reading system
Advanced Reading Course
- Designed specifically for Grades 5-8
- Builds transferable reading skills
- Uses fiction and nonfiction across multiple genres
- Teaches evidence, perspective, arguments, and paired texts
- Creates a foundation for later SAT, ACT, AP, and high-school reading
The goal is not simply to help your child answer today's question. It is to teach them how to approach the next unfamiliar passage on their own.
Book a Free 15-Minute ConsultationIs ARC Right for Your Child?
Designed for Students Ready to Become Stronger, More Independent Readers
ARC is designed for students who can read independently but would benefit from a more systematic approach to advanced comprehension and analysis.
ARC is not simply more reading. It teaches students how advanced readers think.
- Reads fluently but needs stronger comprehension
- Wants more challenge than current classroom reading provides
- Struggles to explain why an answer is correct
- Needs a clearer method for finding the best textual evidence
- Wants to improve fiction and nonfiction analysis
- Finds unfamiliar passages intimidating
- Is preparing for more demanding middle-school or high-school coursework
- Would benefit from personalized reading instruction
How the Course Works
A Clear, Structured 10-Week Program
The Advanced Reading Course gives students in Grades 5–8 a systematic way to build stronger reading skills through weekly live instruction, guided practice, and immediate feedback.
WHO IT’S FOR
Students in Grades 5–8, with instruction and passages appropriate for the Grades 5–6 and Grades 7–8 levels.
WHAT IT IS
A structured 10-week advanced reading program covering fiction, science, argument, biography, textual evidence, and paired-passage analysis.
WHEN STUDENTS MEET
One live 60-minute lesson per week for 10 weeks.
WHERE LESSONS HAPPEN
Live online lessons conducted through Zoom, allowing students to participate from home.
CLASS FORMAT
Available through individualized 1-on-1 instruction or small-group classes of up to six students.
WHAT HAPPENS IN EACH LESSON
Students learn a specific reading strategy, apply it to challenging passages, explain their thinking, and receive immediate coaching and feedback.
How ARC Builds Stronger Readers
A Structured Approach to Advanced Reading
Students learn how to read more strategically, support answers with textual evidence, analyze fiction and nonfiction, compare ideas across passages, and approach unfamiliar texts with greater confidence.
Evidence-Based Reading
Fiction and Nonfiction Analysis
Paired-Passage Comparison
Greater Confidence With Unfamiliar Texts
10-Week Curriculum
A Structured Progression From Story Analysis to Paired Nonfiction
Each week builds on skills introduced earlier so students develop one connected reading system rather than ten isolated lessons.
Stage 1
Foundations
Weeks 1-4Week01
Story Structure & Textual Evidence
Learn to track narrative structure and support answers with strong textual evidence.
Week02
Story Analysis - Part 2
Apply structured reading strategies to more complex narrative passages.
Week03
Textual Details & Character Analysis
Distinguish explicit facts from inference and analyze how authors reveal character.
Week04
Perspective & Comparison
Analyze point of view and how different perspectives shape meaning.
Stage 2
Scientific Reading
Weeks 5-6Week05
Scientific Passages
Apply structural thinking to scientific explanations and evaluate supporting evidence.
Week06
Paired Scientific Passages
Compare competing scientific explanations and evaluate which is better supported.
Stage 3
Argumentative Reading
Weeks 7-8Week07
Argumentative Passages
Identify claims, reasoning, assumptions, and supporting evidence.
Week08
Paired Argumentative Passages
Compare competing arguments and evaluate the strength of each.
Stage 4
Biographical Reading
Weeks 9-10Week09
Biographical Passages
Analyze how authors structure lives, events, and significance.
Week10
Paired Biographical Passages
Compare how different authors present the same person, event, or historical subject.
By the End of ARC
Advanced Reading Skills They Can Use Beyond the Course
Students leave ARC with a repeatable approach for understanding and analyzing increasingly difficult texts.
Tracks complex stories more accurately
Identifies the thinking job a question requires
Finds stronger textual evidence
Distinguishes fact from inference
Analyzes character and perspective
Reads scientific passages more systematically
Compares paired texts with greater precision
Evaluates arguments and competing claims
Approaches unfamiliar passages with greater confidence
The End Goal
Greater independence - not dependence on a tutor every time the passage changes.
How Students Learn
Explicit Instruction, Guided Practice, Immediate Feedback
Learn the Strategy
Students meet a specific reading framework or analytical skill through clear, direct instruction.
Apply It Immediately
They practice the skill using challenging grade-appropriate fiction and nonfiction passages.
Explain Their Thinking
Students identify the skill being tested, select an answer, and support it with textual evidence.
Receive Immediate Coaching
Misunderstandings are corrected in real time, and students refine their reasoning before moving forward.
Why Individualized Instruction Matters
Reading comprehension is difficult to improve through passive practice alone.
During live instruction, I can hear exactly how a student is interpreting a passage, identify where their reasoning breaks down, and adjust the lesson immediately.
That makes it possible to teach not just what the correct answer is, but how the student should think through similar questions in the future.
Meet Your Instructor
Twenty Years of Teaching Advanced Reading Strategies
David Marrufo, MA
I earned a B.A. in English (Highest Honors) from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.A. in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.
For more than twenty years, I have worked with students in English, reading comprehension, tutoring, and standardized-test preparation.
Over that time, I repeatedly saw the same problem: students were asked to complete increasingly difficult reading tasks without ever being explicitly taught a systematic way to approach them.
The Advanced Reading Course grew out of the instructional framework I developed to solve that problem. ARC combines close reading, textual evidence, structured reasoning, and guided practice into a system students can continue using long after the course ends.
20+ YearsTeaching and tutoring experience
UC BerkeleyB.A. in English
Highest Honors
Highest Honors
SFSUM.A. in Philosophy
Grades 5-8Advanced reading specialization
Enrollment
Choose the Format That Fits Your Child
Most Personalized
1-on-1 Advanced Reading Course
$997
10 weeks of individualized live instruction.
Or 4 interest-free payments of $249.25 with PayPal Pay in 4.
- 10 live one-hour lessons
- Personalized instruction
- Fiction and nonfiction passages
- Paired-text analysis
- Science, argument, biography, and literary reading
- ARC reading frameworks
- Immediate feedback and guided practice
Learn Together
Small Group Advanced Reading Course
$347
10 weeks of live small-group instruction.
Or 4 interest-free payments of $86.75 with PayPal Pay in 4.
- 10 live one-hour lessons
- Small-group instruction
- Fiction and nonfiction passages
- Paired-text analysis
- Science, argument, biography, and literary reading
- ARC reading frameworks
- Guided practice and discussion
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions Parents Often Ask
Ready to Learn More?
See If ARC Is Right for Your Child
Tell me a little about your child's grade level, reading experience, and goals.
I'll review your answers before we speak so the consultation can focus on your child rather than generic information about the course.
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Consultation RequestAdvanced Reading Course