22AMERICAN EDUCATOR SPRING 2006

Can all this content really be taught tokids? Would it be a bore for them,

drudgery for teachers? The only way toknow is to try it out. The Core Knowl-edge Foundation produced a Pre-K-8curriculum sequence based on one cen-tral question: What knowledge do writerstake for granted when they write for ageneral, educated audience? The se-quence offers teachers grade-by-gradeguidelines for teaching a rich content-packed curriculum. It’s now being usedin hundreds of schools. What’s the ver-dict? “The kids love it.” Core Knowledgeteachers are quick to note: 1) the curricu-lum sequence specifies content, but notteaching methods; 2) following the se-quence does not take the whole schoolyear; and (3) students find the contentfascinating. American Educator can’t sendyou on a site visit, but we can bring theteachers’ voices to you. Here, RachelPacheco, a first-grade teacher atHawthorne Academy in San Antonio,Texas, and Gloria Farley, a third-gradeteacher at Osmond A. Church School inNew York City, explain how they use theCore Knowledge Sequence and what ithas done for their students.

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Hawthorne Academy has been usingthe Core Knowledge Sequence since1992. Over the past several years, it hasconverted from a regular elementaryschool to a comprehensive early child-hood- through eighth-grade school thatbegins with full-day pre-kindergarten for3-year-olds. Despite the fact that 90 per-cent of the students are economically dis-advantaged, 93 percent of the studentspassed the state reading test in 2005—that’s 10 percentage points higher thanthe statewide passing rate. But their suc-cess isn’t limited to reading: Hawthornestudents surpassed the statewide passingrate (by at least seven percentage points)in mathematics, writing, science, and so-cial studies, as well.

“We use Core Knowledge as the maincontent in science and social studies, but wealso incorporate it in math, language arts,and reading. Our curriculum is driven by

the state and district standards—and CoreKnowledge provides the meat, or the spe-cific content, that we use to meet thosestandards. Working together, our first-grade teachers mapped out the curriculumfor the year. We organized the content intofour units, one for each nine week period.This year-long plan now serves as ourguide and helps to keep us on track whilestill giving us the freedom to decide on ourown the ‘how-to’ of teaching that content.

A recent conversation with a friendwho started teaching in another schooldistrict in February made me really appre-ciate Core Knowledge. She knew she hadto teach the state standards, but she did-n’t have any idea what her class had cov-ered so far this year. She feared repeatingwhat had already been taught or perhapsmissing something that had not yet beentaught. The Core Knowledge Sequencespirals and is mapped out so that childrenbuild upon their knowledge rather thanrepeat the same content each year. So, forexample, we just finished our unit on thesolar system; it was just an introductionto the nine planets, the phases of themoon, the sun, stars, and constellations.When the children get to third grade, theywill study the solar system again. Theywill review what they learned in first-grade and build upon that to go more indepth with their studies.

Core Knowledge allows for consistencywithin the grade level so that all first-graders are learning the same thing. Yet,each teacher is still able to teach the topicsthe way she thinks she should and to per-sonalize the content for her class. We justfinished our unit on the Mayas, the Aztecs,and the Incas. After our discussion on theAztec city of Tenochtitlan, I chose to showmy students a video of a computer recre-ation of this city on a lake. The bilingualteacher across the hallway, Mrs. Alarcon,had her students go home and create theirown Tenochtitlan based on what they hadlearned about this ancient city. The chil-dren’s projects were amazing! They usedmany different materials to create a sup-port system that would allow them tobuild on water. This led to a great discus-sion about the struggles the Aztecs faced intrying to build this incredible city. Mrs.

Alarcon’s class went around to the otherfirst-grade classes and presented their proj-ect. Needless to say, we will all be using heridea next year.

Our children are so excited about whatthey are learning. When a unit ends, theydon’t want to stop learning. I have to re-mind them that they will return to thetopic at another grade level. But they say,‘Tell us now, tell us now Miss Pacheco, wewant to know now!’ And that’s what makesit worth it: The children love being inschool, they love what they are learning,and they can’t wait until it’s time to talkabout the Mayas, the Aztecs, the solar sys-tem, or any other Core Knowledge topic.Parents get excited, too. One said to me,‘Oh my gosh, my child came home todayand taught me about the four phases of themoon and the constellations.’ Another said,‘I had no idea what Mesopotamia was! Mychild is teaching me a lot!’

People cannot fully appreciate Core

Engaging Kids with Content: “The Kids Love It”

(Top) Rachel Pacheco, Hawthorne Academy,San Antonio; (above) Gloria Farley, Osmond A. Church School, New York City

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SPRING 2006 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 23

Knowledge until they visit a Core Knowl-edge school and speak to the students andteachers. I remember being that first-yearteacher thinking, ‘Where am I going tofind something on Mesopotamia or AncientEgypt that is appropriate for first grade?’ Itwas hard, but once I started looking andtalking to other teachers, I was amazed atwhat I found. And the kids love it. Teach-ing and learning have never been so muchfun and so exciting.”—Rachel Pacheco, first-grade teacher

* * *In 1999, before the Osmond A.

Church School (PS 124 in geographicdistrict 27) began using the Core Knowl-edge Sequence, just 33 percent of itsfourth-graders scored either proficient oradvanced on the state English LanguageArts test. But last year, 80 percent of thestudents scored proficient or advanced.That’s 20 percentage points higher thanthe citywide average—and it’s all the

more impressive considering that 100percent of PS 124’s students are eligiblefor the free-lunch program. Last year, 92percent of the fourth-graders in theschool (compared to 77 percent city-wide) scored proficient or advanced onthe state math test.

“ When I first began teaching here, Ididn’t know about the Core Knowledge Se-quence. It was just here. I think it’s great,fabulous. It lends itself to going beyond theregular curriculum. Children are able toread, learn, and appreciate more. It helpsme stretch kids to places I didn’t know theycould go.

My children love to write poems. Weread lots of poetry—‘Dream Variation’ byLangston Hughes, ‘The Crocodile’ byLewis Carroll, and ‘Trees’ by SergeantJoyce Kilmer are just a few examples. Thekids also write their own poetry, their owncouplets.

Core Knowledge drives the entire cur-

riculum. It is a broad-based and diversecurriculum that allows the children tolearn about other cultures. For example, Irecently read Arabian Nights aloud to mystudents, and I combined it with an art les-son by having students design and drawtheir own rugs.

The students absolutely enjoy CoreKnowledge. They are highly motivated andconstantly asking questions. One projectthat the students loved was a research proj-ect we recently completed on orchestra in-struments. The students worked in fourgroups—string, percussion, woodwind,and brass—and each student selected aparticular instrument to study. This proj-ect culminated with a presentation by eachgroup. I enjoy Core Knowledge too. But Idon’t have one favorite topic to teach—Ireally treasure them all because of themany opportunities I have to make con-nections among topics and relate all of theacademic subjects to one another.”—Gloria Farley, third-grade teacher

American History and Geography

I. Early People and CivilizationsB. Maya, Inca, and Aztec

Civilizations

Teachers: Children will study the Maya, Inca,and Aztec civilizations in detail in grade 5.First-grade teachers should examine the fifth-grade guidelines to see how these topics buildin the later grade. Here, introduce children tothese civilizations…

■ Maya in Mexico and Central America

■ Aztecs in Mexico Moctezuma (also called Montezuma) Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

■ Inca in South America (Peru, Chile) Cities in the Andes, Machu Picchu

II. Early Exploration and SettlementC. English Settlers

■ The story of the Lost ColonySir Walter RaleighVirginia Dare

■ VirginiaJamestown …

Visual Arts

III. Kinds of Pictures: Portrait and Still Life

Teachers: Introduce children to the terms weuse to describe different kinds of paintings,discuss examples, and provide opportunitiesfor children to create their own works in dif-ferent genres. When you look at the specifiedworks, ask the children about their impressions–what they notice first, and what the picturemakes them think of or feel. Go on to discusslines, shapes, colors, and textures; details notobvious at first; why they think the artist choseto depict things in a certain way, etc.

■ Recognize as a portrait or self-portrait:Leonardo da Vinci, Mona LisaFrancisco Goya, Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de ZuñigaVincent van Gogh, Self-portrait [1889]

■ Recognize as a still life:Vincent van Gogh, IrisesPaul Cézanne, studies with fruit,such as Apples and Oranges

■ Recognize as a mural (a paintingon a wall):Diego Rivera, The History ofMedicine in Mexico

Science

V. Introduction to Electricity

Teachers: Through reading aloud, observationand experiment, explore with children basicprinciples of electricity and electrical safetyrules.

■ Static electricity■ Basic parts of simple electric

circuits (for example, batteries,wire, bulb or buzzer, switch)

■ Conductive and nonconductivematerials

■ Safety rules for electricity (for example, never put your finger,or anything metallic, in an electrical outlet; never touch aswitch or electrical appliance whenyour hands are wet or when you’rein the bathtub; never put your finger in a lamp socket; etc.)

Samples from the Core Knowledge Sequence for First Grade

Note: A variety of materials exist that teach-ers can use or adapt to teach the materialoutlined in the sequence. For more informa-tion, see the Core Knowledge Web site atwww.coreknowledge.org.