Read anything. Understand everything.
Read Deeper gives students from 2nd grade through high school a clear, grade-by-grade path — from finding the big idea in a story to dismantling a persuasive argument — so every reader builds the skills that make school easier and thinking sharper, for life.

"I believe every student can become a confident, critical reader — they just need to be taught the right strategies at the right moment, in a way that actually makes sense to them."
— Richard Bergen

What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Identify the main idea and supporting details in fiction and nonfiction texts across all grade levels
- Use context clues and vocabulary strategies to decode unfamiliar words independently
- Make accurate inferences and draw conclusions supported by evidence from the text
- Analyze an author's purpose, point of view, and use of literary devices
- Compare and contrast multiple texts or perspectives on the same topic with structured thinking
- Demonstrate comprehension through written responses, summaries, and critical discussion
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 30 lessons

Building Blocks of Comprehension (Grades 2–3)
Establishes the foundational skills early readers need to understand and retell simple fiction and nonfiction texts.
- 1.1What Is the Big Idea?Included
- 1.2Retelling a Story in Your Own WordsIncluded
- 1.3Figuring Out Words You Don't KnowIncluded
- 1.4Asking and Answering Questions While You ReadIncluded
- 1.5Making Simple Connections: Text to SelfIncluded
Growing as a Reader (Grades 4–5)
Expands comprehension strategies so developing readers can tackle longer texts, richer vocabulary, and basic inference.
- 2.1Main Idea vs. Key Details in NonfictionIncluded
- 2.2Reading Between the Lines: Making InferencesIncluded
- 2.3Context Clues and Word PartsIncluded
- 2.4Story Elements: Character, Setting, and PlotIncluded
- 2.5Summarizing Fiction and NonfictionIncluded
Reading with Purpose and Perspective (Grades 6–7)
Teaches students to think about why and how authors write, moving beyond literal understanding into intentional analysis.
- 3.1Author's Purpose: Inform, Persuade, or Entertain?Included
- 3.2Point of View and Narrator PerspectiveIncluded
- 3.3Theme: The Deeper MessageIncluded
- 3.4Text Structure in NonfictionIncluded
- 3.5Evidence-Based Written ResponsesIncluded
Inference, Analysis, and Literary Craft (Grades 8–9)
Develops sophisticated reading skills, including deep inference, analysis of literary devices, and close reading of complex texts.
- 4.1Drawing Conclusions: Evidence and LogicIncluded
- 4.2Figurative Language and Its EffectIncluded
- 4.3Tone, Mood, and Word ChoiceIncluded
- 4.4Character Development and MotivationIncluded
- 4.5Close Reading: Unpacking Complex PassagesIncluded
Comparing Texts and Evaluating Arguments (Grades 10–11)
Builds the critical thinking skills needed to compare multiple sources, evaluate arguments, and detect bias and reasoning flaws.
- 5.1Compare and Contrast Across TextsIncluded
- 5.2Evaluating an Author's ArgumentIncluded
- 5.3Recognizing Bias and Point of View in NonfictionIncluded
- 5.4Synthesizing Information from Multiple SourcesIncluded
- 5.5Comparing Adaptations: Text to Other MediaIncluded
Critical Reading and Independent Thinking (Grade 12 & Beyond)
Equips advanced readers to engage critically with literature and nonfiction at a college-ready level through analysis, discussion, and extended writing.
- 6.1Analyzing Complex Literature: Structure and StyleIncluded
- 6.2Nonfiction Deep Dive: Rhetoric and PersuasionIncluded
- 6.3Critical Discussion: Socratic Seminar SkillsIncluded
- 6.4Writing About Reading: The Literary Analysis EssayIncluded
- 6.5Reading for Life: Strategies for Any TextIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
Early elementary students
Second and third graders building their very first comprehension tools — finding the big idea, retelling stories, and figuring out tricky words — in lessons that feel friendly and fun.
Homeschooling parents
Parents teaching reading at home who want a clear, grade-by-grade framework that tells them exactly what to teach next and gives their child a structured path from foundational skills to critical analysis.
Middle school readers
Sixth through ninth graders navigating inference, author's purpose, theme, and literary devices for the first time — skills that make every class, not just English, suddenly click.
Classroom teachers & tutors
Educators who need a well-organized, sequential supplemental resource to reinforce comprehension skills, fill gaps, or challenge advanced readers without building a curriculum from scratch.
High school students
Tenth through twelfth graders preparing for AP exams, the SAT/ACT, college essays, or simply wanting to write a literary analysis that actually says something — and mean it.
Parents of struggling readers
Families whose child reads below grade level and need a compassionate, no-shame starting point that meets their student where they are and builds genuine confidence alongside real skill.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Richard Bergen
If you're here, you already know something is off.
Maybe your child reads the words perfectly but can't tell you what the passage was about. Maybe your middle schooler freezes up when a teacher asks, "What's the theme?" Maybe you're a high schooler who can power through an assigned novel but stares blankly at an essay prompt wondering what you're actually supposed to say about it. Or maybe you're a parent or teacher watching a student you care about fall further behind — not because they aren't smart, but because nobody ever explicitly taught them how to read for meaning.
That's the gap Read Deeper closes.
Here's what I've seen over and over again: comprehension isn't a talent you either have or don't. It's a set of learnable strategies — and when those strategies are taught clearly, in the right order, at the right level, readers transform. A second grader who learns to "ask questions while you read" becomes a child who is engaged with books, not just moving through them. A ninth grader who learns to examine an author's word choice for tone suddenly sees a poem or an op-ed in a completely different way. A twelfth grader who practices Socratic seminar skills walks into a college classroom ready to hold their own in a discussion about anything.
Read Deeper is built on that progression. We start where your student is — really — with grade-band units that use the right vocabulary, the right examples, and the right level of challenge. Younger readers get warmth, clarity, and concrete tools like retelling and context clues. Older readers get structure, literary terminology, and the analytical habits that make essays and standardized reading sections feel manageable instead of mysterious. Every skill we teach in the early levels is the foundation for something we'll ask students to do in the later ones. Nothing is wasted.
I also want to speak directly to the parents and teachers in the room: you are not on your own here. The units are clearly labeled, the progressions are explained, and the lessons are designed to be used flexibly — whether you're reinforcing skills at home after school, building a homeschool reading block, or looking for structured supplemental support for a student who needs to catch up or be challenged.
Come in wherever your reader is. Build from there. The goal isn't perfection on a reading test — it's a student who picks up any text, any time, and knows exactly what to do with it.
— Richard Bergen
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- 6 modules, 30 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed