Uncommon Core puts us on high-alert about some outright dangerous misunderstandings looming around so-called “standards-aligned” instruction, then shows us how to steer past them—all in service of meeting the real intent of the Common Core. It counters with teaching suggestions that are true to the research and true to our students, including how:
- Reader-based approaches can complement text-based ones
- Prereading activities can help students meet the strategic and conceptual demands of texts
- Strategy instruction can result in a careful and critical analysis of text while providing transferable understandings
- Inquiry units around essential questions can generate meaningful conversation and higher-order thinking
