After a multi-year effort that engaged subject-matter experts and educator focus groups and involved a careful review of national standards and current trends in cognitive science, the Core Knowledge Foundation is pleased to share an early DRAFT of the 2022 update to the Core Knowledge Sequence.
Review the Draft
Access a copy of the Preschool and K–8 portions using the links below:
Many of the changes found in this edition were informed by the following goals:
- Increase elaboration of skills and content in Language Arts and Math and ensure alignment* with Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and Core Knowledge Math (CKMath) programs.
- Present revised science content guidelines to reflect the Next Generation Science Standards’ (NGSS) emphasis on scientific practice.
- Incorporate contemporary works in literature, art, and music.
- Offer a renewed commitment to represent the diverse peoples and cultures of the past and present, who enrich our society.
- Reflect better alignment* with the content presented in Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG) and Core Knowledge Science (CKSci) programs.
We want to hear from you
Between now and November 30, 2021, we will gather feedback from the Core Knowledge community. Comments collected during this period will help shape the published version of the Sequence, which we aspire to release online and in print for purchase later in 2022. It is our hope that administrators, teachers, and parents will carefully peruse this draft and offer feedback on the grade-level content and appendices.
Please complete this survey to share your thoughts. Only comments completed via this survey will be considered.
This survey will close November 30, 2021, at 5:00pm ET.
What Does this Mean for the 2010 Sequence?
The 2010 Sequence will remain online for free download until this newly released Sequence is finalized. Hard copies of the 2010 publication will no longer be sold.
*Please note that some Core Knowledge curricula is still in-development (e.g., middle school CKHG, CKLA, CKSci, and CKMath). While the 2022 edition will align with existing materials, there may be subtle differences between this edition and instructional materials developed in 2022 and later. Any changes that are not captured in the 2022 edition will be addressed in the next Sequence revision.
As a FOLI & LETRS trained curriculum supervisor, I am very excited to review this material under the lens of the science of reading, structured literacy and explicit/systematic instruction.
Hola, My name is Leo, I’m a teacher in a School Located in Hingham MA. I would like to say thank you for your awesome job creating this fantastic curriculum.
I’ve been working with your company since 2015 and to this day, I still follow your curriculum to teach students science in Spanish.
I would suggest having the spirals on page 36 drawn counterclockwise since that is the motion of the beginning of the letters c, g, d, a, q.
It looks good and I appreciate your hard work in revising this book. I am curious as to why the Sayings and Phrases section has not been included. I also noticed that the poems reflect the CKLA material and not the older poems that CK had. Why is that?
It appears that the grade 5 “Sayings and Phrases” were inadvertently removed from the 2022 draft. The phrases noted on page 128 of the 2010 Sequence will be included in the 2022 edition. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Changes to the grade 5 poetry section reflect our effort to incorporate contemporary works, better represent diverse cultures, and offer closer alignment to Core Knowledge publications (e.g., CKLA). When new content was added to the Sequence, we often had to make the difficult decision of taking something out in order to present a manageable amount content. If there are poems in the 2010 Sequence that you feel should be added back to the 2022 edition, we strongly encourage you to complete our survey.
There appear to be many repetitions in the 7th and 8th grade history section. With so much content to cover, there’s not time to do something that was just done the year before. I would suggest assigning that content to one or the other.
Please share your thoughts through our survey: https://www.research.net/r/2022SequenceDraft
I’m not sure how to teach a US history Survey to 7th graders. Way too much content!
When do you think the 2022 version will be finalized and available? Just wondering for planning purposes.
I see that Cells and also Classifying Living Things has been removed from the 5th grade sequence. I see that Cells are now being taught in 6th grade. I am just curious, in what grade are students learning about classification? That was a fairly large part of 5th grade Science. Thanks!
I am wondering if there is a document that outlines the specific changes (i.e. what topics may have changed in history and science, what literature was added or removed) at each grade level.
At this time the Foundation does not have a document containing the information that you are requesting.
When do you think the 2022 revision will be available?
Will you publish revised Realms of Gold?
Yes, new versions of Realms of Gold will be available in late 2022.
Can you let us know when the new sequence will be available?
I thought one of the purposes of CK was to be able to teach more in depth on each topic rather than trying to speed through, as well as building upon students’ knowledge each year. With how the draft of the 7th and 8th grade sequence is laid out, it’s very repetitive and their won’t be time to teach everything listed. The previous 2010 sequence went from late 1800’s America as a World Power to WWII then picked up chronologically in 8th grade. Now it’s the entirety of US history in one grade level, then large pieces of world history in 8th.
Can you tell me the new additions and removals from the 5th grade curriculum in all subjects, please?
I am highly concerned about the changes to the grade 7 English curriculum. Have you read all of the texts? Have you ensured these are all texts that exist? Also, why are we adding The Tempest and removing Cyrano? The length of the new texts are incredibly long. I appreciate that more diversity has been added, but there are some texts that are unrealistic in the timeline of a school year.
• In updating the literature selections in the 2010 Sequence for 2022, we felt it was critical to include contemporary literature, i.e., contemporary titles and authors recognized as outstanding (Caldecott & Newberry book awards, recognition by ALA, etc.) across the grade levels to balance out the classic literature titles. We likewise considered the genre of the existing titles and the new titles, i.e., substituting a contemporary novel for a classic novel, where necessary, etc. All books were read and thoroughly vetted by multiple groups.
• In making these changes, it was sometimes necessary to eliminate a title from the 2010 Sequence to ensure that teachers would be able to use all of the titles included at each grade level in the 2022 Sequence. Often times, the decision regarding what titles to keep and what to eliminate was governed by whether CKF already had its own Core Classic version of the title. CKF already has a Core Classic of The Tempest, but not of Cyrano de Bergerac. The Tempest, written by CKF to ensure appropriate in length and difficulty for middle school students, is available as a free download and as a print publication for purchase.
• With regards to the length of the books, in addition to The Tempest, we recommend that teachers also use the Core Classic versions of The Time Machine and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (available as free download and print) and The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance (will be posted for free download by September and available for purchase this Fall.)
• The Grade 7 literature selections in the 2022 Sequence are all part of the Grade 7 CKLA materials, which include not only student books, but Teacher Guides and Activity Books. We are posting these materials for free download as completed. Every Teacher Guide includes a pacing schedule to guide teachers in how to use the materials to ensure they are able to effectively teach all titles within the school year; this pacing schedule will be particularly useful to teachers in using the new contemporary titles. Currently the following units are available for free download: Unit 1 – Hello Universe, Unit 2 – The Tempest, Unit 3 – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Unit 4 – The Time Machine. All units will be posted by the end of September.
I have great respect for the thought and consideration Core Knowledge puts into its curriculum, and I’m curious about the seventh grade US history curriculum. I can see that, in the 2010 sequence, a “deep dive” approach was planned to continue into seventh grade history. Why was this plan abandoned and replaced with a seventh grade survey course incorporating material previously introduced in earlier grades? Will the eighth grade history follow a similar pattern? I’m just curious. Thank you.
I am using the content as part of my homeschool curriculum. I am very happy with the materials now its up to 8th grade
what do you recommend I use after grade 8 materials?