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On Tuesday, March 22, we celebrate the 94th birthday of the founder of Core Knowledge, E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

“Don,” as he is fondly called here at the Foundation, remains a vital and consistent voice of reason, affirming the need for a coherent, sequential, knowledge-rich curriculum as the key to educational equity and excellence.

In a series of books—from Cultural Literacy in 1987 to How to Educate a Citizen in 2020—Don has tirelessly and eloquently made the case that “the unifying aim of early schooling” should be to impart “the enabling knowledge that is possessed by the most successful adults in the wider society.” His newest book, American Ethnicity, will be available in late Spring 2022.

Here at the Foundation, we’re ever grateful for the intellectual leadership Don has provided, and we’re looking forward to new insights and inspiration to come.

To mark this 94th birthday milestone, we are launching the first episode of our new podcast Building Knowledge, with part one of an interview Dr. Hirsch. These podcasts can be listened on the Spotify or iHeartRadio apps or through this link.

New podcasts will be dropping every week ranging from discussions with creators of the Core Knowledge curriculum to interviews with school leaders and teachers discussing a wide range of topics. Don’t miss a single episode by subscribing to podcast today.

This post is published with permission from the New York Daily News and the writer Robert Pondiscio. The original article can be found here.

In some of his first public comments since being named New York City’s incoming schools chancellor, David Banks has drawn cheers from savvy education observers and literacy experts for remarks critical of “balanced literacy,” the city’s long-standing approach to teaching reading.

‘Balanced literacy’ has not worked for Black and Brown children. We’re going to go back to a phonetic approach to teaching. We’re going to ensure that our kids can read by the third grade,” Banks told CBS2′s Marcia Kramer. “That’s been a huge part of the dysfunction.

The incoming mayor seems to agree. “We are in a city where 65% of Black and Brown children never reach proficiency and we act like that’s normal, it’s all right,” said Eric Adams, introducing Banks last week. If the same number of white children couldn’t read proficiently, he said, “they would burn this city down.”

Adams citing this inexcusable failure and Banks laying the blame on “balanced literacy” suggests our new mayor and his hand-picked chancellor understand that equity starts with literacy.

That said, keep the champagne corked for now. This is not the first time New Yorkers have heard the supposed death knell of balanced literacy. Former Chancellor Joel Klein, the first person ever put in charge of the system under mayoral control, became convinced of its shortcomings late in his tenure, and wished in his memoir that he’d acted sooner. “Our ‘balanced literacy’ approach wasn’t all that balanced,” he wrote.

The city’s Department of Education subsequently recommended two elementary school reading programs, Core Knowledge Language Arts and Pearson’s ReadyGen, and not “Units of Study,” the ubiquitous program from Columbia University’s Teachers College that has dominated New York City schools for more than two decades. But another former chancellor, Carmen Fariña, a long-time champion of the much-maligned program, rescued it, essentially doubling down on balanced literacy.

It is no coincidence that Banks, who has deep roots in New York City schools, is talking about getting kids reading by third grade. There are well-documented links between children’s early literacy skills, academic trajectory and later life outcomes. A 2011 Annie E. Casey Foundation report found, for example, that non-proficient readers in third grade were far more likely to drop out of high school than their peers. More than two dozen states (New York is not one of them) have put in place “third-grade reading guarantees” that require students be retained if they’re not reading proficiently by that time.

The logic is compelling, but those “guarantees” have been disappointing. That’s because the “phonetic approach” Banks is wisely championing is just the starting line. The harder nut to crack is reading comprehension.

Balanced literacy has failed New York’s students mostly because it treats reading as a “skill” like riding a bike — on the theory that once you learn how, you can ride any bike. But reading comprehension is not a skill at all. Good readers tend to know a little about a lot of things. They have big vocabularies and use words with sophistication and subtlety. Phonics is essential — if kids can’t read the words at all, they can’t comprehend — but what should come next is a rich public-school curriculum that ensures New York’s poorest children have access to the same broad body of knowledge and vocabulary that the richest largely take for granted.

Paradoxically, that means less reading instruction in the intermediate and upper grades, and additional class time spent on science, history, the arts and more.

I saw this daily in my own South Bronx classroom years ago. I never had a single student who couldn’t technically read. Yet they struggled with comprehension for myriad reasons, not the least of which was the intellectual starvation rations we had placed them on.

Well-intended literacy consultants and coaches, true believers in balanced literacy, insisted that reading and writing should be “authentic,” reflecting students’ lives, interests and experiences. That was precisely the wrong approach. If you want kids to love reading and do it well, it means less time looking in the mirror and more time looking out of the window. Even the bravest education leaders tend to lose their nerve when it comes time to dictating classroom content, but this is where reading failure begins.

It is significant — and encouraging — that New York City’s new chancellor is talking about reading instruction in his first public comments. But don’t underestimate the tremendous energy, focus and political will required to uproot the poor literacy practices that have been sold to Gotham teachers for a generation as “best practices.” To name just one factor beyond his control: The education schools that train most teachers continue to indoctrinate future teachers in the methodology Banks wants to turn away from.

Banks noting the failure of balanced literacy is functionally a declaration of war against poor reading instruction and a laudable first step. But winning that war will be a long, hard struggle.

Pondiscio is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

 

A History of the United States consists of two student books and one teacher guide.

The Teacher Guide provides detailed lesson plans for each Student Volume chapter, as well as a Daily Check for Understanding, Activity Page Masters, Assessments, Additional Activities, and Civics and Arts connections to reinforce the lesson content. Various Pacing Guide options are provided as part of the online resources. In addition, the Teacher Guide contains the following new features:

  • The Learning Lab provides additional time for students to complete the new Student Volume features, before the chapter is wrapped up.
  • A Talk it Over opportunity encourages discussion or debate, either in the Guided Reading Support, or in the Additional Activities.
  • When Primary Source documents are used within a lesson, the importance of such resources is highlighted.

[button] A Free Download of the Teacher Guide is available here[/button]

Student Reader Volume 1, A History of the United States: Precolonial to the 1800, offers engaging text and a rich selection of images. Some of the topics covered are:
The Americas were inhabited by diverse indigenous peoples; the thirteen English colonies were established; Americans fought the British for liberty and justice; with the creation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the U.S. became the first country to create a government of the people; compromise over the issue of slavery eventually led to Civil War; Westward expansion of the United States provided economic opportunity for many and contributed to the growth of the nation, but at the price of Native American sovereignty; the U.S. became a world power in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a period marked by immigration, industrialization, and urbanization.

[button]A Free Download of Student Reader Volume 1 is available here[/button]

Student Reader Volume 2, A History of the United States: Modern Times – Late 1800s to the 2000s addresses the following topics: The U.S. experienced economic, technological, scientific, and social changes in the 1900s; the U.S. supported the Allies in World War 1; the Roaring Twenties was followed by the stock market crash and the Great Depression; the U.S. entered World War 2 after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor; the U.S. developed the atomic bomb; the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed for global influence in the Cold War; the 1960s and 1970s were decades of social change; the 1980s and 1990s, saw economic growth and involvement in regional conflicts; the early 2000s brought economic, environmental, political, and international challenges, including 9/11 and war in Iraq.

[button]A Free Download of Student Reader Volume 2 is available here[/button]

Print Copies of a History of the United States materials are also available for purchase here

The Blessings of Liberty – Voices for Social Justice and Equal Rights in America, a collection of historical primary source readings focused on the United States from about 1840 to 1920, invites middle school students to engage directly with the words of people who worked for freedom, justice, and reform in America. The topics covered include those who spoke who out for reform …

  • during the Progressive Era, such as Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Zitkala-Ša, and others
  • for African Americans, such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Maggie Walker, and others
  • for women’s right to vote, such as Sojourner’s Truth, Jovita Idár, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and others

[button]A Free Download of The Blessings of Liberty is available here[/button]

A Teacher Guide, Student Activity Book, and Online Resources are also available for Free Download. These materials are appropriate for use as part of language arts and/or history instruction.

Print Copies of Student Book, The Blessings of Liberty, are also available for purchase here

In May of 1787, delegates from all over the new United States came together in Philadelphia in what became known as the Constitutional Convention. These delegates discussed and worked to resolve the difficulties and challenges they faced as they strove to govern a new nation.

As a result of their coming together, a new constitution was established—the one under which we live today. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention voted to keep the proceedings secret, but James Madison, who represented his native Virginia, kept notes. Because of his notes, we have a full record of the proposals and the debates over the wording of the Constitution. As the delegates stepped forward to sign the Constitution, on September 17, 1787, Benjamin Franklin, unable to rise from his chair, spoke to the delegates one last time. At the start of the convention, said Franklin, he had noticed a carving of a sun with sunbeams on the back of the Convention chairman’s chair.

“I have often … in the course of the session … looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun.”

Activities to Celebrate Constitution Day

Constitution Day commemorates the day those brave delegates signed the Constitution of the United States. Celebrate Constitution Day by organizing activities, finding out more about the Constitutional Convention itself, and check out the following wonderful free resources.

CKHG Free Resources

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Grade 2: Making the Constitution

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Grade 4: The United States Constitution

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Middle School: A History of the United States

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Other Resources to Check Out

In addition to the free Core Knowledge History and Geography curriculum resources, there are many others that can be used in the classroom. Here are just a few:

And check out the wealth of Additional Activities we provide in our CKHG Teacher Guides, including virtual field trips to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and James Madison’s home, Montpelier; as well as music videos and interactive games.

The Core Knowledge Foundation is pleased to announce that Draft Copies of the CKLA Grade 6 Teacher Guides, Activity Books, and Online Resources* may now be downloaded.

These eight units provide a full year of instruction in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

Download these FREE resources from the Core Knowledge website:

 With the exception of Unit 4, Student Books must be purchased.

[button] Download The Heritage of Ancient Greece and Rome Student Book here [/button]

Student Books for Units 3, 5, 7 & 8 are available for purchase from the Core Knowledge Bookstore

Student Books for Units 1, 2, & 6 may be purchased from your preferred bookstore.

* We will be field testing the CKLA Grade 6 instructional materials during the 2021-2022 school year.
We welcome any feedback or suggestions that you may have.

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.

The Core Knowledge Foundation is looking to add two highly qualified individuals to our list of  publication consultants:

  • Senior Writer/Editor – to write and edit original student texts for various Core Knowledge publications, including, but not limited to: the Core Classics, CKHG, and CKLA, for students in K-8th Grades.
    .
    Must have at least three years experience as a writer for commercial, educational publications. Familiarity with Core Knowledge publications desirable. Bachelor’s degree or graduate study in English or History preferred; elementary or middle school teaching experience a plus.
  • Graphic Design Production Artist – to design, layout, and produce collateral for Core Knowledge publications, including, but not limited to: the Core Classics, CKHG, and CKLA. Also supports maintenance of the Core Knowledge website.
    .
    Must have at least three or more years experience as a commercial graphic designer understanding color management and photo manipulation, as well as a thorough knowledge of the commercial printing process. Also must have expertise in PC and MAC platforms and the following software: Adobe (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint.)

All work completed as a writing consultant and/or  graphic design consultant becomes the property of the Core Knowledge Foundation and will be copyrighted as such.

Qualified applicants should send a detailed resume, listing software expertise, and three work samples to humanresources@coreknowledge.org.

Core Knowledge Science for Grades K-5 is a full-curriculum science program. It integrates the best of the Core Knowledge approach while meeting every performance objective as well as touching on all three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards.

Core Knowledge Science, however, adds another discipline to the science curriculum. We at The Core Knowledge Foundation believe all students, starting in Kindergarten, should have access to the finest educational materials dealing with the structure, function, health, and health technology of the human body. This important area of study has been neglected in science classes, but a full suite of materials for the elementary grades is now available as part of CKSci.

Each grade level offers full color, beautifully designed and well written Student Readers. Additionally, comprehensive Teacher Guides support science and health teachers by offering clear teaching strategies for each lesson. This is an activity-based program that also contains integrated reading material over the course of each unit. Teacher Guides contain links to Online Resources that help bring the program to life in your classroom.

Let’s examine the Human Biology offerings and take a look at some of the program’s features.

Kindergarten

Overview

In Our Five Senses, students will identify the body’s different senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Students will explore what body parts are involved in each of these senses, and experience how the senses help them interpret their surrounding environment. Students will also learn how we can take care of our sense, and how certain technological devices can enhance or change how the senses work.

Human Body Units: Read Alouds in Grades K-2

Colorful, meaningful, accurate art and photographs are the hallmark of Our Five Senses. The K-2 books are designed as “read alouds” meaning the teacher reads and students follow along in their own copies of the Student Readers. As students are read to, bold and scientifically accurate images reinforce the student experience. And all units discuss the medical technologies that can help us live more healthy lives.

Grade 1

Overview

Students understand that their bodies allow them to do many things, such as move and breathe. In Human Body Systems, students explore the several systems that make up their bodies–systems that do different jobs, but work together to allow their bodies to function. Students encounter the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, and nervous systems. They explore the different organs, tissues, and cells that are part of each system, while investigating how these systems work within their own bodies.

Human Body Units: Healthy Practices

Understanding the human body means understanding the practices that keep us healthy. In all Human Body units, students explore healthy living, such as making the best food choices and exercising to maintain optimal body system health.

Grade 2

Overview

In this unit, students will explore elements of the digestive system, starting with why we feel hunger, and why we eat food. Students will explore the digestive system and its different parts, to understand the hierarchy of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Students will also look at the building blocks of the body—cells. Students know they get hungry, they eat food, and they use the restroom. What students may not understand is how their bodies engage in those processes. Human Cells and Digestion enables students to explore how their bodies break food down to get nutrients and energy.

Human Body Units: Teacher Guide Worksheets

In the Teacher Guides for all of the CK Human Body units, teachers can avail themselves of worksheets that accompany the classroom activities that are the core of each lesson. Worksheets help students make sense of new information about their own digestive systems.

Grade 3

Overview

In Human Senses and Movement, students consider the body structures, systems, and functions that contribute to the ability to engage in physical activity, particularly to the ability to return a fast serve of a table tennis ball. Vision and hearing provide the perception needed for the response. The interactions of the nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems produce the body’s motion in the response. Students build on their understanding from previous grades about human body structures and their functions. They also discover adaptive technologies that assist with different aspects of impaired somatosensory function.

Human Body Units: Scientific Accuracy

The core of all CK Human Body units is accuracy in all forms of learning. By Grade 3, students begin to see clear scientific presentations that involve connecting new vocabulary to visual information. Coupling labeled diagrams to exciting visual images allows students, many of whom are not reading on their own, to connect science to the study of the human body.

Grade 4

Overview

In Human Circulation and Respiration, students will consider the respiratory and circulatory systems and the role those systems play when students participate in a fun run. The circulatory system will move blood and oxygen through the bloodstream, where blood and oxygen are needed. The respiratory system will exchange the oxygen for the waste product, carbon dioxide. Students will also build on their understanding from previous grades about human body structures and their functions, as well as discover technologies that aid people when respiration and circulation are compromised.

Human Body Units: Comprehensive Teacher Guide

Each unit in the Core Knowledge Human Body program contains a thorough Teacher Guide with a wealth of background information, NGSS connections, worksheets, lesson procedures, activity guidelines, core and suggested vocabulary ideas, and all the pedagogical help a teacher needs. Download a teacher guide and explore the myriad suggestions for conducting organized, successful lessons.

Grade 5

Overview

In Human Hormones and Reproduction, students will first consider the endocrine system, the hormones released, and the hormones’ roles in human growth and development. Depending on the phase of life, the endocrine system will release hormones that trigger growth and development. With the onset of puberty, the human body will develop so that it may reproduce through sexual reproduction. Next students will trace how the human body changes from birth, through childhood, through puberty, and to adulthood.

Human Body Units: Science of the Human Body

Hormones, puberty, reproductive anatomy, and the processes of fertilization, embryo development, and birth, are all vitally important to understanding the human body. The Core Knowledge approach in all units is to convey factual information to students. From the examination of the senses in Grade K to human sexual anatomy in Grade 5, Core Knowledge Human Body units unite science and human health into one important suite of study.

The Core Knowledge Foundation is proud to announce its new
Middle School CKLA program, beginning with Grade 6

These eight units offer a full year of instruction, building students’ reading comprehension and background knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills in alignment with the CCSS-ELA. Students will read a balance of contemporary literature written by diverse authors, as well as new Core Knowledge “Core Classics.”

Click on the links below for more info on each Student Book:

First Drafts of the Unit 1 TG and AB
Have Been Posted for Free Download! 

We invite you to review this unit and send your feedback to cklagrade6@coreknowledge.org

The Grade 6 CKLA materials will be available online only during 2021-2022.
Stay tuned for more information on field testing opportunities!

New Spanish Translation Core Knowledge History and Geography Materials (CKHG) Now Available for Free Download

In response to numerous requests to provide our materials translated into Spanish to support greater access for students, the Core Knowledge Foundation is pleased to announce the following Core Knowledge History and Geography titles available for free download on our website.

In Kindergarten:

  • Los Nativos Americanos
    (Native Americans)
  • Explorando y Mudándose a Estados Unidos
    (Exploring and Moving to America)

.

In Grade 1:

  • La Independencia de las Trece Colonias
    (From Colonies to Independence)
  • Explorando el Oeste
    (Exploring the West)

.

In Grade 2:

  • Inmigración y Ciudadania
    (Immigration and Citizenship)
  • Líderes de los Derechos Civiles
    (Civil Rights Leaders)

.

In Grade 3:

  • La Exploración de América del Norte
    (Exploration of North America)
  • Las Trece Colonias
    (The Thirteen Colonies)

.

In Grade 4:

  • La Revolución Americana
    (The American Revolution)
  • LA Constitución de los Estados Unidos
    (The US Constitution)

.

In Grade 5:

  • La Guerra Civil
    (The Civil War)
  • Los Nativos Americanos y la Expansión Hacia el Oeste: Culturas y Conflictos
    (Native Americans: Cultures and Conflicts)

.

In Grade 6:

  • La Formación de los Estados Unidos: IInmigración, Industrialización y Reforma
    (Immigration, Industrialization and Urbanization in America)

.

.

If you are looking for any of our other student readers for CKHG or CKSci translated into Spanish, please visit our vendor partner Fathom Reads.  Translations are available in e-book format through a subscrpition. Interactive e-books are also available in English for CKHG, CKSci as well as our Core Classics.