Share the Knowledge

Teach a man to fish...

The ancient Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is not included in the Core Knowledge Sequence, but it does aptly capture how and why we have revised our Saturday Share the Knowledge unit presentations.

For the past year, the Foundation has been advocating the use of domain-based units for all grade levels, similar to those included in the kindergarten and grade 1 Core Knowledge Language Arts Listening and Learning Kits. These units, which adhere to the intent and spirit of the Common Core State Standards, leverage the benefits of read-alouds to support students’ acquisition of content knowledge, listening comprehension, and language development.

New Session Format

Between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., join one of your fellow Core Knowledge colleagues for a presentation of an exemplary domain-based unit. Then “learn to fish” during the 9:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. session in which we will present a fast paced series of mini-workshops designed to refine your use of three key competencies to create high-quality domain-based units that exemplify the spirit and intent of the Common Core State Standards:

1. Identify and select quality texts,
2. Present effective interactive read-alouds, and
3. Facilitate classroom discussions that foster children’s vocabulary and language development.

Separate session tracks are available for elementary school and middle school teachers.

Go home with a model domain based Core Knowledge unit for your grade level and all of the tools you need to develop your own creative units!