FAQ: K–8 Schools Answers

New to Core Knowledge

I love the idea of Core Knowledge! How can I get started in my classroom, even if my school isn't involved in a school-wide effort yet?

Core Knowledge is most effective when it is implemented as a school-wide initiative.  However, sometimes individual teachers can spark school-wide interest by taking the lead and using Core Knowledge in their own individual classrooms.

To get started with Core Knowledge as an individual teacher, we would recommend that you purchase the Core Knowledge Sequence and the grader series books appropriate for your classroom (What Your Preschooler Needs to Know through What your Sixth Grader Needs to Know). The Sequence provides a detailed outline of what should be taught at each grade level.  Although the grader series books are designed for parents to use at home with their children, you may find them of use in your classroom if you have limited resources to teach the content outlined in the Sequence. Please note, however, that the grader books are not intended to be used as student textbooks in a classroom setting.

We also strongly recommend the grade appropriate Teacher Handbook and the Day-by-Day Planner. The Teacher Handbook provides comprehensive background knowledge for teachers regarding all grade level topics in the Sequence, as well as suggestions for instructional activities, assessment, and other resources. The Foundation has developed a Curriculum Plan sample/template that defines the recommended sequencing and pacing of topics. Use this sample as a springboard to assist in the ordering and placing of domains.

Review the additional resources and products that are available from the Core Knowledge Foundation and our partners. You may also find attendance at a Core Knowledge Symposium or one of our regional professional development events very worthwhile.

Finally, you may also wish to contact Core Knowledge schools in your area for information and advice.

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Can we effectively teach students who have not used Core Knowledge in their earlier grades?

Ideally, students will experience the topics in the Core Knowledge Sequence in a sequential, grade by grade manner since knowledge builds cumulatively (i.e., what students learn at each new grade level builds upon the knowledge learned in earlier grade levels).

However, schools just beginning implementation of Core Knowledge must start somewhere.  Some schools choose to start implementation in the earliest grade level(s), adding additional grades as these students move up to other grade levels.

Other schools choose to begin a school-wide implementation across all grade levels simultaneously.  Schools have been successful implementing in this way by explicitly recognizing that students in the upper grade levels have not benefited from a sequential, grade by grade introduction to the topics of the Sequence; background knowledge that would normally be taken for granted at a given grade level must be explicitly taught.  These schools carefully craft their curriculum plans to incorporate time for "back-teaching" earlier topics, building background knowledge that students would normally have already received. You can create a list of prior topics by reviewing those listed for the earlier grades in the Sequence. Another option is to assign summer reading (with parents) from the grader series books. Also, if you have new students transferring into your Core Knowledge school, they should jump right in—you can fill missing background knowledge as you would with any new student.

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I am hoping to transform an existing school that presently uses a different approach into a Core Knowledge school. What should I do?

If you choose to work with an existing school, the most important first step is to gain the support of the school leadership. We recommend that you begin by sharing the downloadable general information packet available on our website, and view the Core Knowledge Overview webinar. Once the administration is convinced that Core Knowledge will be an asset to their school, you will need to take time to gain the support of all of the teachers. You can gain the support of administrators and teachers by providing them with information about Core Knowledge, sharing research documenting its effectiveness, and telling success stories in other schools. One way to introduce teachers to Core knowledge and to gain support is to get every teacher a copy of the grader series books (What Your—Grader Needs to Know), and ask them to read them aloud with their students and follow the reading with a brief discussion of the topic. While this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as true Core Knowledge implementation is concerned, it will give teachers and students a taste of the content included in Core Knowledge at minimum cost and effort on the teachers' part with regard to prep work or lesson plans. Often, teachers are truly shocked at how little background knowledge their students have. Once the teachers are convinced, it's difficult to keep Core Knowledge out of a school.

Learn more about getting started with Core Knowledge.

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I am thinking about starting a Core Knowledge charter school. Can the Foundation help me?

Many charter schools have found success with Core Knowledge and we are happy to discuss Core Knowledge with budding charter schools. When a potential school contacts us, we provide information about our curriculum and our recommended professional development, including timelines and budgets for implementation. There is a downloadable general information packet available on our website.

The Core Knowledge Sequence is the primary document for schools wishing to implement Core Knowledge — this is only available from the Core Knowledge Foundation. Each teacher needs a copy of this publication, but many more resources will also be needed to fully implement Core Knowledge. While Core Knowledge does not help schools write charters, we strongly recommend that you contact us early in the process of writing your charter school application. 

Learn more about getting started with Core Knowledge.

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How can I network with other schools?

The best way to network is to stay connected with the Core Knowledge Foundation.

The Core Knowledge National Conference and professional development events also provide a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and to network with teachers, administrators, and parents from other Core Knowledge schools.

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Teaching Core Knowledge

How do I teach Core Knowledge?

Effective Core Knowledge teachers are teachers who have mastered both the content of the Core Knowledge Sequence and best teaching practices.  Mastery of Core Knowledge content allows teachers to creatively and expertly introduce this content in an age-appropriate way to their students.  Mastery of best practices in teaching includes strategies such as the use of assessment to drive instruction, scaffolding instruction to meet individual needs, and providing targeted feedback to students to further shape their learning.

Teachers new to Core Knowledge can begin by recognizing that children learn new knowledge by building schemas and connections based upon prior knowledge.  Children build these schemas by linking their current experiences with previous ones.  In other words, prior knowledge is the foundation on which new knowledge is constructed.

Research in cognitive science also suggests that a little by little approach is better than attempting to teach a lot all at once.  Although the Sequence presents grade-specific, topic by topic outlines with related concepts—designed to encourage the presentation and teaching of knowledge by domains—it is important to continue to revisit these topics and build knowledge throughout the year.  Continue to revisit favorite songs, poems and stories; keep copies of student work in centers where children can go to revisit favorite topics; keep copies of class graphic organizers posted up on the wall after the unit of study is completed so that children can continue to learn and build upon the foundation of prior knowledge.

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What are your recommendations for a reading program?

Reading requires two abilities—the ability to turn print into language (decoding) and the ability to understand what the language says. The Core Knowledge Foundation has developed Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) to ensure that students develop both abilities. Currently, the program is available—for free download—for preschool through third grade.

In addition to CKLA, decoding programs that are premised on scientifically-based research are: Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar (Jolly Learning), Open Court (SRA/McGraw-Hill), Read Well (Sopris West), and Reading Mastery Signature Edition (SRA/McGraw Hill). For more information on these programs, please review the Core Knowledge Foundation Recommendations for Elementary Math and Reading Programs. 

In addition to teaching decoding skills, a good language arts program will include coherent and interesting readings in nonfiction content that enhance comprehension ability. Currently, the most widely used language arts programs fail to address this need.  Although some programs do include nonfiction selections, they do so in a random, nonintegrated manner in which nonfiction selections have no coherency or relation to one another. Therefore, to ensure true literacy, in addition to teaching the language arts topics in the Core Knowledge Sequence, Core Knowledge teachers are encouraged to substitute nonfiction readings or read alouds based on the Sequence history and science topics for many of the short, fragmented fictional stories that may be included in their basal reading program.  See the CKLA section of our website for more information on why the coherent integration of nonfiction in the language arts block is critical.

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Does Core Knowledge have a position on how to teach reading?

Consistent with the findings of the National Reading Panel, whose reports are available online, Core Knowledge strongly supports systematic phonics instruction as the superior way to teach decoding skills.  For more information on reading and the superiority of phonics approaches, consult any of the following books:

• Susan Hall and Louisa Moats, Straight Talk About Reading

• Jean Chall, Learning to Read: The Great Debate

• Marilyn Jager Adams, Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print

• Diane McGuinness, Why Our Children Can’t Read

• Catherine E. Snow, M. Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

As far as decoding is concerned, CKF is firmly on the phonics side, not the whole language side.

However, saying that phonics instruction is the best way to teach decoding is not the same as saying that phonics alone is enough to ensure children become good readers. There is another element to reading comprehension, besides decoding, and that is language comprehension, or oral language. Students need to be able to not only decode words and sentences, but also to understand what those words and sentences mean. This means they need to know lots of words and ideas. They need to know about key subjects in history, science, and the arts. They need to have cultural literacy. This is why the Core Knowledge Sequence contains so many different subjects of study—all these things are listed because we believe children who are exposed to these topics will have the background knowledge and language capabilities necessary to understand the words they encounter while reading.

The key thing to remember is that reading requires not only decoding skills (best taught by phonics) but also broad background knowledge and vocabulary (best taught through a rich curriculum like Core Knowledge and frequent reading aloud). To learn more about these two key components of reading, consider studying the so-called “simple view of reading.”  

An ideal reading program will include good phonics instruction (followed by fluency work) combined with frequent reading aloud to expose children to new words and key subjects like the subjects listed in the Core Knowledge Sequence. Moreover, the reading aloud will include not only fictional stories but also generous amounts of nonfiction—because a read-aloud on George Washington or insects introduces student to different words and ideas than a story about Snow White.

Although a growing number of reading programs do a good job teaching phonics and skills, very few include the number or kind of read-alouds children need to develop the knowledge stores sufficient to be good readers. That’s why the Foundation has developed Core Knowledge Language Arts. This reading program combines optimal phonics-based decoding instruction with frequent teacher read-alouds—twice a day, 150 days a year, with the read-alouds organized into domains of study.

As far as classroom work is concerned, make sure your school is addressing both sides of reading. It should be teaching decoding using systematic phonics, followed by lots of practice to build fluency. And it should feature frequent reading aloud (followed or punctuated by discussion, of course) to children in the early grades. Research has shown that children’s reading comprehension abilities do not catch up to their listening comprehension skills until about seventh grade.  Therefore, it makes sense to keep reading aloud right through the elementary years, even when students have learned the basic decoding skills.

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What are your recommendations for a math program?

The math guidelines in the Core Knowledge Sequence are cumulative goals that describe competencies children should achieve by the end of each grade level, but do not articulate the incremental development or regular practice and review required to achieve those competencies.

As distinguished scientists in math education (including Professors Wayne Bishop, David Geary, Robert Siegler, and others consulted by the Core Knowledge Foundation) have acknowledged, math mastery requires regular guided opportunities for practice and review to ensure that over time, basic procedures become automatic. Skills and practices acquired early in a child's education should be revisited consistently to fix them in memory and make them second nature. When this principle is followed, the child's mind is freed to focus on the structure of ever more difficult and interesting problems. Moreover, this excitement of problem solving and understanding is enhanced when children are given opportunities to approach similar kinds of problems in different ways. A variety of approaches to, for example, calculating the area of a surface, will help sustain interest and give children a deeper understanding of underlying concepts.

Schools are encouraged to use a math program that follows these basic principles and avoids distractions (for example, literature-based math or other spurious interdisciplinary connections). While it is desirable to pique a child's interest through math problems with real-world applications, it is important that such problems be translated to mathematical form in order to be readily solved.

Core Knowledge schools are encouraged to use a math program that is focused, effective, and known to work well. Individual teachers are discouraged from skipping around in a math textbook, since inconsistency among classes at a grade level makes it impossible for teachers in later grades to know what their students have been taught in earlier ones. Whatever program a school chooses, it's important that teachers agree on clear and specific goals, such as those in the Sequence, and then try to make sure that all students achieve those goals.

Math programs that follow sound cognitive principles and therefore lead to greater student mastery are: Singapore Math (distributed by Marshall Cavendish) and Saxon Math (Saxon Math / Harcourt Achieve).  For more information on these programs, please review the Core Knowledge Foundation Recommendations for Elementary Math and Reading Programs.

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Can Core Knowledge be adapted to meet the needs of special education students?

Absolutely! In our professional development workshops, we offer information, strategies, and suggested modifications for your grade level. These strategies can be a helpful toolkit to use for students with all kinds of special needs. 

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Can Core Knowledge be adapted to meet the needs of English language learners?

Meeting the needs of English language learners presents a special challenge, as teachers must ensure that language instruction coincides with the content being taught in the classroom. 

Since we believe in equity and excellence for all children, we expect that teachers will use additional strategies to support English language learners.

Content can always be modified to make it understandable for all children. The Core Knowledge Sequence allows English language learners to build a foundation for understanding rich content. To make this possible, teachers should select strategies and adapt them to meet the needs of their school's ELL population.

Effective strategies might include:

• Introducing topics
• Frontloading of information
• Taking picture walks
• Concept building
• Posting labeled visuals
• Highlighting selectively
• Brainstorming
• Using visuals to develop vocabulary

 When working with text, effective strategies might include:

• Paraphrasing
• Using visual enhancement
• Using chants
• Using Multi-media presentations (PowerPoint, films, filmstrips, etc.)
• Using dramatization
• Conducting reader's theater
• Reducing non-essential text       

When addressing literacy development and assessments, effective strategies might include:

• Using graphic organizers
• Using cloze paragraphs (cloze paragraphs are similar to fill-in-the-blank exercises.)
• Conducting cooperative learning activities
• Using graphic depictions
• Conducting shared writing
• Administering pictorial tests
• Using frame writing

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Can Core Knowledge be adapted to meet the needs of gifted/honors students?

In the interest of equity and excellence, we believe that gifted children should learn the same content as other children in classrooms implementing Core Knowledge.  We expect that children identified as "gifted and talented" will be given time to explore concepts in greater depth to extend their learning. A sample fourth grade unit for gifted children (written by Jennifer England) demonstrates how to provide extension options and activities using grade-level content.

Other resources related to teaching gifted children include:

• Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner. (ISBN: 1-57542-089-9)
• National Association for Gifted Children (www.nagc.org )
• State Departments of Education (these often have resources, guidelines, and strategies that can be adapted to the Core Knowledge curriculum).

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Can I "pick and choose" which topics to teach and which to leave out?

Effective Core Knowledge teachers recognize that topics from the Core Knowledge Sequence must not be eliminated or changed from one grade level to another. The topics in the Sequence have been carefully chosen to ensure educational equity. We want all students, advantaged and disadvantaged alike, to share in the common knowledge that can lead to success. “Picking and choosing” elements of the Sequence or taking out topics can lead to the very inequities we wish to avoid. Core Knowledge is an integrated and sequenced curriculum that builds over time. Leaving out some of the building blocks will inevitably weaken the foundation for future learning. The Curriculum Plan sample/template on the Curriculum Planning Tools page will provide a sample of ordering and pacing of history and science topics for K–5. For grades 6–8, the sample provides suggested pacing as well as opportunities for cross-curriculum connections to be made in multiple subject areas.

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Why isn’t there a separate section in the Core Knowledge Sequence for special areas such as Physical Education, Foreign Language, Technology, or Drama?

We value all teachers and all areas of education, but our focus is on the core academic content areas. Not including a specific sequence for subjects such as Physical Education, Foreign Language, Technology, or Drama does not mean we do not value these areas; quite the opposite is true. However, a number of factors, including limited human and financial resources, have led us to concentrate on core academic areas, particularly those leading to the development of true reading comprehension.

That said, special area teachers should work closely with each grade level teacher and with each other to identify topics that can be taught and/or reinforced in their classes. The most successful Core Knowledge programs have been those in which all of the teachers have coordinated their lessons so that students experience coherence and connections in every class.

Physical Education teachers have had students spell Core Knowledge vocabulary words as they are warming up, show how the study of human body systems relates to exercise, or play games from historical periods being studied in the classroom.

Drama teachers often have students extend their classroom learning by dramatizing historical events or enacting plays from the historical periods being covered in class. Technology teachers have had children demonstrate their skills by creating projects or presentations on Core Knowledge topics.

We encourage all teachers to collaborate and work together to make the school an exciting, enriching place. Special area teachers can find units presented for their area of expertise in the lesson plan section of our website. If you know an outstanding special area teacher, encourage him or her to present his or her ideas at the next Core Knowledge National Conference!

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Why isn’t there a separate section in the Core Knowledge Sequence for Foreign Languages?  

The purpose of the Core Knowledge Sequence is to build children's background knowledge so that they have a large enough vocabulary and a broad enough cultural background to comprehend what they read.   Understanding the world around us requires a broad knowledge of culture, including historical, literary, and scientific references.  Building this background is the particular focus of Core Knowledge, but we encourage schools to include other areas of study. Foreign language study, in particular, can be very valuable and starting it early has been proven to be advantageous. In fact, many Core Knowledge schools teach second languages to elementary aged children.  We have not, however, added a second language sequence because, among other things, there would have to be many sequences.  The preference of which languages to offer varies from place to place and school to school. While we encourage schools to add elements like foreign languages, we also encourage them not to drop elements from the Sequence. The topics in the Sequence have been carefully chosen to ensure educational equity. We want all students, advantaged and disadvantaged alike, to share in the common knowledge that can lead to success.

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How do you use Core Knowledge in a multi-age setting?

The Core Knowledge Sequence contains content guidelines that are carefully sequenced from one grade to the next to help students build a very solid, cumulative body of knowledge over time. The topics are specific to ensure that teachers and parents have a clear understanding of what should be taught. Topics are introduced in the early grades and revisited in the intermediate grades to allow for more in-depth instruction and to utilize the background knowledge begun in the primary grades.

Using the Core Knowledge Sequence in a multi-age classroom requires a lot more work on the part of the teacher. The goal is to keep the content grade-specific to avoid gaps and repetitions. This either requires small group sessions within the classroom or regrouping students for content instruction, with either other classrooms on the same grade levels or across grade levels when they teach the same content (American Revolution in first and fourth grades).

Although there are many difficulties associated with teaching Core Knowledge in a multi-age setting, a few schools have accomplished this well. Please let us know if you would like contact information for a school that implements Core Knowledge in a multi-age setting so that you may contact them directly.

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What is the role of the Core Knowledge Coordinator in Core Knowledge schools?

The main objective of the Core Knowledge Coordinator is to assist the principal with the implementation of Core Knowledge on site.

A Core Knowledge Coordinator is a classroom teacher who has the following attributes: 

• A strong understanding of Core Knowledge and the Core Knowledge Sequence
• A positive attitude, enthusiasm, and belief in Core Knowledge
• Effective teaching strategies
• A background or experience in curriculum development
• A strong knowledge of state and local requirements
• A strong verbal and written skills

The Core Knowledge Coordinator will help the administrator with some of the following duties (as determined by the administrator and Coordinator together):

• assisting grade levels in implementation of the Core Knowledge Sequence
• assisting grade levels in the development of units
• providing assistance to promote ongoing improvements
• providing assistance to increase parental involvement and communication
• providing assistance and training for new teachers to sustain implementation
• serving as a liaison between the Core Knowledge Foundation, CSRD representative, and the school
• providing support for the staff for their efforts
• attending all related meetings and in-services

Check our calendar of events for upcoming Core Knowledge Coordinator and Leadership Institutes.

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Becoming a Core Knowledge School will cost us money. Where can we go to find grant support?

As a nonprofit organization ourselves, the Core Knowledge Foundation does not have the financial resources to offer grants to schools wishing to implement Core Knowledge. We attempt to support Core Knowledge implementation by offering our publications and professional development services by as close to our actual costs as possible.  Public schools should explore the availability of federal funds for Core Knowledge implementation through the Race to the Top Funds and/or Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration grant funds.  You may also find local or regional philanthropic organizations willing to assist your school in getting started with Core Knowledge implementation.

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