Curriculum Matters

Our Professional Learning Network has been growing! We're thrilled to introduce a number of new additions to our Squad in recent months – a reflection of the growing use of high-quality curriculum in districts across the country. #CurriculumMatters

We got to see more from Mrs. Branch in this clip and we loved how she held students accountable to answering the WHOLE question. “I love your thinking!” “Your explanations have gotten so good!” The social studies instruction happening in @LHUSD1 at Nautilus Elementary is 🔥!

This is perfect @mcglynn3! “If working memory is limited, instruction must be selective. And in literacy, the text deserves the top seed.” 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Okay, now back to basketball!

John Sweller developed cognitive load theory. He is my guest in the next episode of Chalk & Talk! Coming tomorrow, March 20. Don’t miss it!

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It’s obvious to me that effective curiosity explodes once one’s knowledge has been built. I see it every day in my students: the more they know, the more they want to know. It’s the Dunning-Kruger effect—as their expertise develops, they become more and more aware of what they don’t know yet, and then ask very insightful, substantive questions to explore those gaps based on what they’re now ready to understand. This doesn’t happen when you lead with discovery and inquiry. Yes, kids will ask questions, they will be curious, but it often lacks a substantive foundation of knowledge from which that curiosity can develop. They don’t know enough yet to know what they don’t know about a concept or an issue, so their questions and inquiries are often superficial. If you want to help your students become more curious and inquiring, teach them to know a lot about that topic or concept first. From there, they will become inquiring minds, built on a strong body of knowledge that helps them understand what they still need to learn.

🏀March Madness is in the air!📚 What’s @mcglynn3 overall number one in her literacy instruction bracket? The text. It’s always the text. Read more from the @Standards_Work Chief Academic Officer on her Substack or the @KnowledgeMatrs Blog! knowledgematterscampaign.org/post/bracketol…

I’ve been wanting to get to this one for a while. This line from @Doug_Lemov foreword summarizes with remarkable precision why I read books like this: “In many ways the greatest form of equity lies in whether students get access to teaching that applies the science of learning as well as it can be by teachers who understand it well enough to make decisions to adapt and adjust their lessons for maximum benefit.”

Looking forward to presenting at researchED New York on May 2. It promises to be a great event, as usual for researchED. Hope to see many others there! More info & registration here: researched.org.uk/event/new-york…

hubs.la/Q047j1jr0 Grateful to @The74 for the feature on The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading 📚 ...and to the educators bringing this work to life every day. ✨

Every single one of my professor friends is either bringing back paper and pencil or twisting themselves into pretzels trying to design tasks that students can't cheat on with AI

That’s why we need more robust, knowledge-rich curriculum in elementary grades that prioritizes building coherent bodies of knowledge about the world, not isolated, inquiry-based exposure to one-off topics. It should intentionally and explicitly develop usable, transferable vocabulary and knowledge of the world. Students need knowledge and vocabulary for concepts they can apply across many contexts. 2/5

🧵The biggest challenge I face in teaching global issues and concepts about the world isn’t the content itself. It’s the knowledge and vocabulary deficit students start with. When prior knowledge is limited and vocabulary is underdeveloped, even well-designed lessons become harder to access, retain, and truly understand. The barrier isn’t a lack of relevance or interest. It’s entry points. 1/5

That was my attempt to very concisely summarize a new book by @Doug_Lemov @ColleenDriggs @EricaWoolway translating the science of reading into classroom practice. Read my full review here: the74million.org/article/new-bo…

"Get kids reading fluently. As much as you can. Have them read and write about books."

Really thoughtful review of our new book on the science of reading.... hope you'll check it (and the book) out.

Struggling readers don’t catch up with easier books. In fact, they often fall further behind. Less complex text = • less vocabulary exposure • less syntax development • less knowledge building The gap doesn’t close. It widens. Better inputs → better readers.

Professors John Hattie & Gregory Donoghue published ‘A Meta-Analysis of Ten Learning Techniques’ (2021), which replicated the findings of Dunlosky et al. (2013). Their conclusion stated: “The most effective techniques are Distributed Practice & Practice Testing.” I write about retrieval practice & spaced practice in the article below for @EvidenceInEdu evidencebased.education/resource/retri…

“What do you think we might see. What’s a word we could use?” “Lewis and Clark” “Because” We saw some excellent writing instruction using learned history content on our recent school tour in @LHUSD1! Peep those #becausebutso posters on the white board! 😉@TheWritingRevol

“Writing can also help students develop into strong readers, particularly when it’s tied to what they are already learning.” @ChadAldeman with a piece about @Doug_Lemov @ColleenDriggs and @EricaWoolway new book! 📢📢📢

Happy to report that even if I'm the last guy to get there, I'm now on Substack. douglemov.substack.com