Reading Comprehension (Grades 2-6)

109 core topics + 23 prerequisite topics taught as needed · approximately 37 hours of instruction including spaced review

How the course runs

An adaptive diagnostic (up to 40 questions) places the student on the course's knowledge graph - topics already known are credited, and instruction begins exactly at the learning frontier. Every topic is taught with a worked-example lesson and auto-graded practice; a topic is mastered at 75%+ and then maintained through spaced reviews on an expanding schedule. Mixed checks follow every 6 lessons; each unit ends with a 12-item quiz, and course-wide assessments appear at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% mastery. Prerequisite gaps below the course are detected and taught rather than skipped, so completion certifies the whole tower, not just the top.

Core curriculum

Story Basics: Character, Setting & Events · 8 topics

Who the Story Is About [E]	Name the characters in a story and say what one of them is like.
Where the Story Happens [M]	Name the place a story happens, and say why that place matters.
When the Story Happens [M]	Say what time of day, day of the week, or season a story happens in.
How a Character Feels [M]	Name a feeling a story shows through what a character does.
What a Character Wants [M]	Say what a character is trying to get or trying to do.
What Happens in the Story [M]	Pick out the things that happen, and which one matters most.
Why It Happened [M]	Explain why something in a story happened, using the story.
Character, Setting, or Event? [M]	Sort a piece of a story into character, setting, or event.

Retelling, Sequence & Summary · 7 topics

Who the Story Is About [E]	Name the character a story follows.
First, Next, and Last [M]	Say what happened first, what came in between, and what came last.
Putting the Whole Story in Order [M]	Arrange all the events of a story from beginning to end.
Finding the Problem [M]	Name what goes wrong in a story.
Finding the Solution [M]	Say how a story's problem gets resolved.
Summarizing a Story [H]	Retell a story keeping only what matters.
Knowing What to Leave Out [H]	Spot the detail a summary does not need.

Story Structure: Problem, Plot & Solution · 7 topics

Beginning, Middle, End [M]	Say which part of a story an event belongs to, and what that part is for.
What a Character Wants, and What Is in the Way [M]	Name both halves of a story problem: the want and the thing blocking it.
What Kind of Trouble Is It? [M]	Tell trouble with a person from trouble with the world or with yourself.
The Tries That Do Not Work [M]	Follow the middle of a story as a run of attempts, and say why each fails.
The Moment It Turns [H]	Find the one moment after which a story cannot go back.
How It Ends, and What Is Different [H]	Say how a story settles - fixed, gone around, or accepted - and what changed.
Because of That, Not And Then [H]	Follow a plot as a chain of causes instead of a list of events.

Theme, Lesson & Central Message · 8 topics

Topic or Theme? [M]	Tell the subject of a story apart from what the story says about it.
What a Character Learns [M]	Find the theme by watching what a character understands at the end that they did not understand at the start.
The Moral a Story States [H]	Read a stated moral or saying and check what the story actually backs up.
Saying a Theme in One Sentence [H]	Word a theme so it is neither about one character nor true of every story.
The Evidence for a Theme [M]	Point to the detail that actually supports a theme, not just a true detail.
Themes Nobody Writes Down [H]	Work out a theme from an ending, a silence, or a word the writer chose.
Objects That Carry the Message [H]	Read the object or image a story keeps returning to.
What a Story Does Not Say [H]	Refuse a lesson the text will not support, including the tidy one.

Point of View, Narrator & Perspective · 8 topics

Who Is Telling This [M]	Find the teller of a text before deciding what the text means.
How Much the Teller Knows [H]	Work out how far a teller can see, and what is therefore missing.
What the Teller Cannot See [H]	Assemble what a text shows but its teller has not noticed.
What a Person Makes of It [H]	Separate what happened from what a person in the text made of it.
Words That Give a View Away [H]	Notice the single words that carry a teller's attitude.
One Event, Two Views [H]	Explain why two honest accounts of one event can disagree.
Telling It From Somewhere Else [H]	Predict what changes when the same events get a different teller.
Why the Author Chose This Teller [H]	Explain what a writer gains and loses by choosing a particular teller.

Poetry & Drama · 9 topics

Lines, Stanzas and Where a Poem Breaks [M]	Read a poem's shape on the page as part of what it means.
Rhyme, Rhyme Scheme and Poems Without Either [M]	Hear rhyme, name the pattern it makes, and read a poem that has none.
Repetition, Alliteration and the Sound of a Line [M]	Notice what a poem's sounds are doing besides rhyming.
The Picture a Poem Puts in Your Head [M]	Read the sensory pictures a poem or a stage sets, and say what they do.
Figures of Speech Inside a Poem [H]	Read similes, metaphors and personification where poems pack them tightest.
Who Is Talking in a Poem [M]	Identify the voice speaking a poem, and what that voice reveals.
What the Poem or the Scene Is Saying [H]	State what a poem or a scene is finally about, in a sentence.
How a Play Is Written Down [M]	Read a script: cast list, scene heading, dialogue and stage directions.
Reading What a Scene Is Really Doing [H]	Work out what characters want, what blocks them, and what they will not say.

Comparing & Contrasting Texts · 8 topics

Comparing on the Same Point [H]	Name one point that both texts speak to before you say anything about either of them.
Two Characters, Side by Side [H]	Compare two characters by what each one decides, not by what each one is called.
What the Setting Changes [H]	Ask what a setting makes possible or impossible, not just what it looks like.
Patterns of Events Across Stories [H]	Recognize the shape two stories share, and find the exact place where they stop sharing it.
Same Idea, Different Story [H]	State what each text says about a shared subject, then compare the two statements.
Two Tellers of One Event [H]	Compare who is telling each text and what that teller was in a position to know.
The Same Story in Another Form [H]	Compare what a poem, a play, a story or an explanation can and cannot carry.
Making a Comparison That Says Something [H]	Write a comparison that names the shared point, the difference, and why the difference matters.

Nonfiction Basics: Topic & Key Details · 7 topics

What the Whole Text Is About [M]	Say in a few words what a whole true text is about.
Key Details You Can Point To [M]	Find a fact the text really states, and point to where it says so.
Questions a Text Can Answer [M]	Tell which questions a text answers and which ones it never touches.
New Words in a True Text [M]	Work out what a new word means from the sentences around it.
Titles, Labels, and Captions [M]	Use the title, labels, captions, and contents page to find what you need.
Two Facts That Go Together [M]	Say how one fact in a text leads to another.
Which Fact Matters Most [M]	Choose the facts worth telling back and leave the rest out.

Main Idea & Supporting Details · 7 topics

Topic or Main Idea? [M]	Tell what a text is about from what it says about it.
Finding the Main Idea [M]	Say in one sentence what a whole text is telling you.
Main Ideas That Are Not Written Down [H]	Work out the main idea when no sentence states it.
Details That Back It Up [M]	Find the fact in a text that supports a particular idea.
Choosing the Best Title [M]	Pick a title that names the main idea rather than one detail.
Writing a Summary [H]	Retell a text keeping only what matters.
Telling a Detail from the Main Idea [M]	Spot the sentence that is only a detail.

Text Features & Graphics · 8 topics

What a Heading Promises [M]	Use a title or a heading to say what a part of a page will be about.
Finding the Page You Need [M]	Use a contents page, an index, and headings to find a fact fast.
Bold Words and the Glossary [M]	Notice a word printed in bold and look it up where the book keeps meanings.
The Words Under a Picture [M]	Read a caption for what it adds to the picture and to the text.
Reading a Labeled Diagram [M]	Follow labels and arrows to read a drawing that names its own parts.
Reading a Chart [M]	Read across a row and up a column, and name what the numbers leave out.
Reading a Map and Its Key [M]	Use a key, a compass rose, and a scale to read what a map is showing.
Why the Author Put It There [M]	Say what a text feature does that the sentences alone could not do.

Text Structure in Nonfiction · 8 topics

Words That Give the Shape Away [M]	Spot the words and sentences that tell you how a nonfiction text is organized.
Description: Groups, Parts and Kinds [M]	Recognize a text that describes one thing closely or sorts things into kinds.
Sequence: Time Order and Steps [M]	Follow a text built on the order things happen or the order they are done.
Compare and Contrast [M]	Read a text that sets two things side by side and says how they are alike and different.
Cause and Effect [M]	Trace a text where each thing described makes the next thing happen.
Problem and Solution [M]	Read a text that states a difficulty and then what was done about it.
Naming the Structure of a Whole Text [H]	Decide which structure a whole passage is built on, and notice when it uses more than one.
Why the Writer Chose That Shape [H]	Explain what a text's structure does for the reader, and what would be lost in another shape.

Author's Purpose & Point of View · 8 topics

Why the Author Wrote It [H]	Name what a text was built to do, not just what it is about.
The Evidence for a Purpose [H]	Point to the move in the text that proves what the writer wanted.
Why This Part Is Here [H]	Explain the job a single paragraph, sentence or phrase is doing.
Who It Was Written For [H]	Work out the reader a text was aimed at, and how you can tell.
The Author's Point of View [H]	Say what the writer thinks about the subject, even when no opinion is stated.
Words That Take a Side [H]	Notice how a writer's wording steers what a reader concludes.
Facts, Judgments, and Honest Uncertainty [H]	Sort what can be checked from what is argued, and spot a writer naming their own limits.
Two Writers, One Subject [H]	Compare two texts on one subject and find the exact point where they part.

Inference, Evidence & Summarizing · 8 topics

Stated or Implied? [H]	Tell what a text says outright from what it only lets you conclude.
What One Detail Tells You [H]	Draw the conclusion a single detail supports, and stop there.
The Line That Proves It [H]	Given a claim, find the sentence in the text that actually supports it.
Putting Two Details Together [H]	Reach a conclusion that no single sentence in the text states.
An Objective Summary [H]	Say what a text argued, in its own terms, without taking a side.
Deciding What to Leave Out [H]	Cut the details a summary can lose, and keep the ones it cannot.
Which Evidence Is Strongest [H]	Choose between two relevant details by asking which one settles it.
Inference or Guess? [H]	Spot the step that goes past what the text can carry.

Integrating Multiple Sources · 8 topics

What Your Sources Are Really About [H]	State the one question a set of sources is answering, precisely enough to compare them.
Where Sources Agree [H]	Find the ground two sources share before you look at where they split.
Where Sources Disagree [H]	Locate the exact sentence where two sources stop agreeing.
A Fact Fight or a Meaning Fight [H]	Tell whether two sources disagree about what happened or about what it means.
What Each Source Chose to Include [H]	Notice what one source puts first, and what another leaves out entirely.
Choosing the Source That Can Answer It [H]	Match a question to the source that is actually able to answer it.
Building One Answer from Several Sources [H]	Write one sentence that holds everything the sources support and nothing more.
What None of the Sources Tells You [H]	Name the question your sources leave open, and what would answer it.

Prerequisite material - taught automatically when the diagnostic finds gaps

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness · 3 topics

Hearing Rhymes	Tell when two words end with the same sound.
Hearing the First Sound	Tell which sound a word starts with.
Words That Begin Alike	Group words by their beginning sound.

High-Frequency Words & Sight Vocabulary · 2 topics

Recognizing High-Frequency Words	Know the most common words on sight, instantly.
High-Frequency Words in Sentences	Use common words correctly inside a real sentence.

Print Concepts & Early Comprehension · 3 topics

How Books and Print Work	Know the parts of a book and which way print goes.
Listening Comprehension	Understand a story that is read out loud to you.
What Happened First, Next, Last	Put the events of a story in the order they happened.

Context Clues (Grades 2-3) · 5 topics

When the Sentence Just Tells You	Find a word's meaning written into the sentence itself.
A Nearby Word That Means the Same	Use a synonym elsewhere in the passage to unlock a word.
When a Contrast Points the Other Way	Use a contrast word to work out the opposite meaning.
Working Back From Examples	Use a list of examples to work out the category.
When There Is No Clue Word	Work out a meaning from the whole situation.

Figurative Language & Idioms · 5 topics

Noticing When Words Are Not Literal	Tell when a sentence is not meant exactly as written.
Working Out What It Really Means	Say in plain words what a figure of speech is telling you.
Similes	Read a comparison made with like or as.
Metaphors	Read a comparison that says one thing IS another.
Personification	Spot something not human doing something only people do.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (2-4) · 3 topics

The Main Idea of a History Text	Find what a history passage is really about.
Evidence in a History Text	Point to the detail that actually proves a claim.
Whose Story Is Being Told	Notice whose point of view a history text takes, and who is missing.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (5-6) · 2 topics

Reading a Source Like a Historian	Ask who made a source, when, and what they wanted it to do.
When Sources Disagree	Compare accounts of the same event instead of trusting one.

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