Curriculum Mapping with the Core Knowledge Sequence

Curriculum Mapping with the Core Knowledge Sequence

Participant Workbook

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Core Knowledge Licensed Professionals are educators who can assist you with your Core Knowledge implementation. These educators have experience in planning and implementation of the Core Knowledge Sequence and can assist you with on-site professional development and support. To learn more, visit: For support with the Core Knowledge Language Arts program, contact Amplify Education: 800-823-1969

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DAY 1

2 Day Goals:

? To become more familiar with the Core Knowledge philosophy, Sequence, & materials ? To learn more about and apply the 4-C characteristics of the Core Knowledge approach; ? To begin development of a year-long, school-wide curriculum plan and domain maps; ? To develop a set of school-wide strategies to support implementation

Objectives:

We will be able to: ? describe how the cumulative nature of the Core Knowledge Sequence effects instruction

across grade levels; ? describe how coherent instruction impacts student learning; and ? craft a curriculum plan that reflects the 4-C approach.

Itinerary:

? Introduction & Community Builder ? Materials and CK Philosophy ? Curriculum Mapping & Core Knowledge ? 4-C Characteristics of Core Knowledge approach ? Cumulative Nature of Core Knowledge ? Applying Coherence ? Drafting the Curriculum Plan ? Reflection & Closure

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Background Information on Core Knowledge

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1. What is Core Knowledge?

Core Knowledge is a research-based, teacher-tested curriculum that engages students in diverse historical, scientific, and cultural content. The idea behind Core Knowledge is simple: knowledge builds on knowledge. The more you know, the more you are able to learn. This idea, grounded in cognitive science, sounds simple and obvious. But it has profound implications for reading achievement, standardized testing, critical thinking, problem solving, and a host of other educational issues. The Core Knowledge curriculum represents a first-of-its-kind effort to describe exactly what every literate American should know--what writers and speakers assume we all know?and to create a roadmap for teaching it, grade-by-grade, year-by-year, in a sensible, age-appropriate sequence.

The preschool curriculum is outlined in the Preschool Sequence, and includes the developmental areas of Physical Well-being and Motor Development, Social and Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Language and Literacy Development, and Knowledge Acquisition and Cognitive Development. The K-8 curriculum is outlined in the K-8 Sequence which details specific content and skills to be taught in language arts, history, geography, mathematics, science, and the fine arts. The total Sequence represents our best effort to identify and describe the specific core of shared knowledge that all children should learn in U.S. schools. The curriculum is carefully organized so that topics across subject areas build on one another to broaden and deepen students' knowledge and skills. This wide array of subject matter enables strong reading comprehension and critical thinking--the keys to educational success. Core Knowledge is carefully organized and systematic, yet it leaves room for teacher and student creativity. Grade-by-grade, our approach prevents the repetition or omission of important content, and creates a foundation for interdisciplinary exploration.

As the core of a school's curriculum, the Core Knowledge Sequence establishes a solid, coherent foundation of learning, along with embedded flexibility for meeting local needs. The Sequence serves as the springboard to planning in each classroom. Schools align the Core Knowledge topics with state and district standards, then develop a school-wide, yearlong Curriculum Plan for teaching all requisite topics and standards.

The 4-C Characteristics of the Curriculum: The Core Knowledge curriculum is content-rich, coherent, cumulative, and taught in a context-specific way. The content-rich curriculum engages students in rigorous English language arts and literacy, mathematics, history and geography, science, visual arts, and music. The content is organized coherently, or in a logical order, so knowledge builds on knowledge. Content and skills spiral within and through the grades. For example, chart below shows how content related to the Human Body spans through the years. This cumulative sequencing of content is a key strength of Core Knowledge.

Kindergarten The 5 senses

First Grade Body systems

Second Grade Digestive & excretory systems

Third Grade Muscular, skeletal, & nervous systems; vision & hearing

Fourth Grade Circulatory & respiratory systems

Fifth Grade Endocrine & reproductive systems

Sixth Grade Lymphatic & immune systems

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Additionally, Core Knowledge content is taught in a context-specific way. This means that ideas, people, geography, sayings, and more are taught in the context of the time period or related area of knowledge--not in isolation. Students make connections to prior knowledge, other subjects, and real life. For example, students learn about Copernicus when they study astronomy. Likewise, students learn the saying "A penny saved is a penny earned," when they learn about Benjamin Franklin--the man who coined the phrase. Schools keep these 4-C characteristics in mind as they plan their year with Core Knowledge.

2. Where Did Core Knowledge Come From?

Core Knowledge is based on the work of E. D. Hirsch, Jr. He has explained his research and ideas in several widely acclaimed books, including Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them, The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children, and The Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools.

In the 1970's, while conducting reading research at a pair of colleges in Virginia, Dr. Hirsch made an important discovery. Community college students in Richmond, Virginia tested just as well as students attending the highly selective University of Virginia -- as long as the passages the community college students were asked to read dealt with familiar, everyday topics. But when the community college students encountered passages that required historical background, they faltered. These students had difficulty understanding a passage on Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee because many of them were unfamiliar with the Civil War. That shocked Dr. Hirsch. In essence, the Richmond community college students had been cheated. They hadn't acquired important general knowledge in their homes and communities, and their schools hadn't compensated for that. Their basic intelligence was sound. They simply did not have the knowledge they needed to make sense of many texts that relied on unspoken, assumed knowledge. Dr. Hirsch realized these students had not been taught the things that they needed to know to understand ordinary texts addressed to a general audience.

Since Hirsch's discovery, he has argued for a deeper understanding of reading. Successful reading requires more than an ability to decode, or "sound out," words. It also requires adequate background knowledge, or "cultural literacy." Without background knowledge of history, literature, art, music, science and math, students will read -- but without comprehension. They will read, but they won't understand what they've read.

In 1986, Dr. Hirsch founded the Core Knowledge Foundation, a small non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia. A year later, he published Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. A surprise publishing phenomenon, the book remained at the top of the New York Times best-seller list for more than six months. In the book, he argued that schools should teach a shared

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curriculum that would allow all children to understand things writers and speakers take for granted. This would allow each of them to fully participate in democratic life. The Foundation's motto "Educational Excellence and Equity for ALL Children" is based on this premise. The mission of Core Knowledge Foundation is "to offer all children a better chance in life and create a fairer and more literate society" through such a shared curriculum. To this end, the Foundation provides curriculum materials, professional development, support and networking opportunities to teachers and administrators in a growing network of over 900 schools across the country. In 2012, Dr. Hirsch was the recipient of the Education Commission of the States' James Bryant Conant Award - one of the most prestigious honors in the education community. The honor is bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contribution and commitment to American education. Thus, his reputation as one of the most influential education reformers of our time has been solidified.

The Consensus Behind the Sequence

The Core Knowledge Sequence is the result of a lengthy and rigorous process of research and consensus-building undertaken by the Foundation. The following considerations were taken into account in the process of development.

AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: The developers first considered the knowledge and skills specified in the successful educational systems taught in other countries, including France, Japan, Sweden, and West Germany.

NATIONAL REPORTS: The process also included the study of the many reports issued by state departments of education and by professional organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. These reports typically recommend general outcomes for elementary and secondary education.

STATE AND DISTRICT GUIDELINES: State and district curricular guidelines and standards were examined. Additionally, in more recent years, the Core Knowledge Foundation was a consultant in the development of the Common Core State Standards.

SUBJECT MATTER ADVISORS: Experts in various fields were consulted throughout the process.

MULTICULTURAL ADVISORS: An advisory board on multiculturalism was formed to propose a body of knowledge consisting of diverse cultural traditions that American children should all share as part of their school experience. That information was sent to three independent groups of teachers, scholars, and scientists around the country, asking them to create a master list of core concepts that children should have. About 150 teachers (including college professors, scientists, and administrators) were involved in this step.

CONSENSUS BUILDING: In the final stage of development, 100 educators and specialists participated in a national conference in which they hammered out a working agreement on an appropriate core of knowledge. The participants in this conference were elementary school teachers, curriculum specialists, scientists, science writers, officers of national organizations, representatives of ethnic groups, district superintendents, and school principals from across the country. A total of 24 working groups decided on the first draft of the Sequence.

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