They understand the story—but miss the questions.
They can often explain what happened but struggle to identify the evidence that supports an answer.
LIVE ONLINE READING COURSE · GRADES 3–5
Reading Rescue gives students in Grades 3–5 explicit, step-by-step strategies for understanding stories, finding evidence, analyzing characters and perspectives, comparing texts, and reading nonfiction with greater confidence.
8 Weeks · Live Online · 60 Minutes Per Week · Grades 3–5
Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation See the 8-Week Curriculum ↓
WHEN READING FEELS HARDER THAN IT SHOULD
They can often explain what happened but struggle to identify the evidence that supports an answer.
Answer choices can all seem plausible when a student does not have a clear method for checking them.
As texts become more complex, comprehension requires more than remembering events.
Students may understand individual sentences without seeing how the information fits together.
Reading Rescue replaces guessing with a clear, repeatable approach students can use whenever they encounter a new text.
A STRONGER READER AT EVERY STARTING POINT
Reading Rescue is designed for students in Grades 3–5 who would benefit from explicit reading strategy instruction—whether they are trying to catch up, strengthen an inconsistent skill, or accelerate beyond what they are currently learning in school.
Develop a stronger foundation for understanding what a text says.
Turn inconsistent reading habits into repeatable strategies.
Give capable readers more sophisticated tools for analyzing text.
HOW IT WORKS
Students in Grades 3–5
A structured 8-week reading course built around explicit reading strategies
One live 60-minute lesson each week
Live online instruction through Zoom
Individual 1-on-1 instruction or small groups of up to six students
Direct instruction, guided practice, immediate coaching, and application to new passages
THE READING RESCUE APPROACH
Reading Rescue teaches students to approach a passage with a purpose. Instead of relying on intuition or choosing the answer that simply “sounds right,” students learn how to identify what a question is asking, return to the text, find relevant evidence, and reason toward an answer.
A TOOLKIT THEY CAN KEEP USING
Recognize the important events and relationships that organize a narrative.
Support answers by returning to specific information in the passage.
Understand what characters think, want, do, and reveal.
Recognize how different people can experience or interpret the same events differently.
Identify meaningful similarities and differences.
Organize important information instead of treating every sentence as equally important.
THE 8-WEEK READING RESCUE
WEEK 1
Learn how strong readers organize the events of a story and support their understanding with evidence from the text.
WEEK 2
Strengthen story analysis and apply the strategies to more complex narratives.
WEEK 3
Learn to locate, distinguish, and use the specific details that matter most.
WEEK 4
Analyze characters through their actions, words, motivations, relationships, and changes.
WEEK 5
Understand how a character’s or narrator’s perspective shapes the way events are experienced and described.
WEEK 6
Identify meaningful similarities and differences between characters, events, ideas, or texts.
WEEK 7
Transfer the strategies to nonfiction and organize important information from informational passages.
WEEK 8
Apply the complete Reading Rescue toolkit to nonfiction texts about real people, experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.
WHY EIGHT WEEKS
Reading Rescue is intentionally designed as an eight-week course. Each week builds on the strategies introduced before it, giving students enough time to practice a coherent system without committing to an open-ended tutoring program.
WHAT A LESSON LOOKS LIKE
A new strategy is explained clearly and concretely.
Teacher and student work through a passage together.
Students identify evidence, explain their reasoning, and apply the strategy.
Misunderstandings are corrected while the student is still working through the text.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
David Marrufo has spent more than twenty years teaching English, reading comprehension, tutoring, and standardized-test preparation. He also taught third-grade humanities, giving him firsthand experience helping elementary-age students build stronger reading habits and comprehension skills.
He earned a B.A. in English with Highest Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.
Reading Rescue grew out of his belief that students make stronger progress when reading strategies are taught explicitly, practiced deliberately, and applied repeatedly to unfamiliar texts.
Teaching reading, English, comprehension, and tutoring
Elementary reading specialization
ENROLLMENT
$797
Complete 8-Week Course
$277 / student
Complete 8-Week Course
FROM GUESSING TO REASONING
YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
No. Reading Rescue is designed for students who would benefit from more explicit reading strategy instruction. That can include students who are catching up, building consistency, or ready to accelerate.
Grades 3–5.
Eight weeks, with one live 60-minute lesson each week.
Yes. All classes are conducted live through Zoom.
Up to six students.
Students work with narrative and informational passages, including biographies.
No advance preparation is required. Students will regularly encounter texts in class so they can learn to apply the strategies to material they have not already rehearsed.
Reading Rescue is a structured eight-week course rather than open-ended homework help. Each lesson teaches a specific reading strategy that builds on the previous weeks.
READY TO GET STARTED?
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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