What is the difference between Core Knowledge and Common Core?

Pin It I watched this 10 minute video report to understand basics between basal reading programs and the new common core philosophy.  (Boosting Reading Skill with Common Core).  If you have time, it explains the programs used by three different schools and connects their process in adopting the new standards.  Content/Non-fiction reading will increase for sure.  However, the push to more expository text instruction has been stumbling around in the back room for the past five years.  Now that it's finally taking a sprint to the classrooms, I'm looking forward to including more "facts" in everyday lessons.





Which reminds me . . . . years ago during my time as a 4-H leader, I came across a handbook that described components of a good nature lesson. In my own words, it went something like this:

(These are learner statements!)
Step 1: What's in it for me? (The Essential Question)
Step 2: Give me the facts! (Whoa! There it is! In reality, facts and process steps require drill and memorization. The number of times a fact or word must be repeated, depends on the student. A good teacher has a wealth of information to share with students through direct, explicit instruction.)
Step 3: Let me practice! (O.K. So, you could use a game here! Or, maybe an interactive, technology component.)
Step 4: Let me teach you! (Now, we could tag this with product-based learning, writing exemplars, etc.)

Even though I can write the fanciest, complicated lesson plan filled with "hot-topic" buzz words and gilded expectations, my "Big Picture" planning thought process  has always been more basic and "common sensed."  Those simple four statements became the stepping stones for everything that I taught.


Why does everything have to be so complicated?