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

@natwexler latest edition of Minding the Gap is all about clarity for educators! Learn about the new AI Evidence Checker and the second edition of @deansforimpact Science of Learning Report! open.substack.com/pub/nataliewex…

Next on Knowledge-Building for Teachers Series: Data, Data, Data Featuring: @mommagordon2 @profbeckyallen Selena Fisk @brian_poncy @sstollar6 Russ Fox @C_Hendrick Katie Wolfe Matthew Courtney

Inquiry works best when students have enough knowledge to inquire with. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Two new resources can help educators navigate the confusing world of education research. @deansforimpact @nsachdeva2019 That's important. But to make real progress, we also need to take a systemic, curriculum-focused approach. More in my new post: nataliewexler.substack.com/p/how-can-teac…

“For learners w/ lower prior knowledge, explicit instruction should precede inquiry to support schema acquisition, whereas for more knowledgeable learners, inquiry can activate existing schemas…” This was discussed in S3 of the #knowledgematters podcast! knowledgematters.org/podcast-s3/

An excellent blog by @EnserMark on ‘Teaching and learning vocabulary’ in geography. “Once we begin to look for morphology in geography, it becomes impossible not to notice how saturated the discipline is with these patterns. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p/t…

Honored to be a featured guest on Amplify's latest Science of Reading Essentials episode—focused on the science of learning and how its key tenets can improve literacy instruction. Listen here: at.amplify.com/science-of-rea…

Knowledge-building and vocabulary-building are not separate goals. The words students learn are tied directly to the content, concepts, and ideas they encounter. Knowledge matters because language grows through it. 🔗open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p/t…

As @natwexler recently shared, one of the biggest myths in education is that young kids aren’t interested in “big” topics. Knowledge-building curriculum keeps proving the opposite. 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/nataliewex…

Here’s the big problem, in my opinion, with standards like this: there is no explicit mention of the knowledge students should acquire before engaging in inquiry. Standards like this, whether intentionally or not, bury a very important headline: students need knowledge before they can successfully engage in inquiry, application, and analysis. For teachers, this can be very misleading. I’ve fallen into this trap myself, assuming the intention was to lead with inquiry and application first. But inquiry is not a substitute for knowledge acquisition; it depends on it. Students cannot meaningfully analyze, evaluate, or investigate concepts if they lack the background, domain-specific knowledge those processes require. When prerequisite knowledge is left implicit instead of explicit, it can create the impression that inquiry itself is the starting point rather than something built upon a strong foundation of knowledge. The result is often students being asked to “think critically” about content they do not yet know well enough to think critically about.

This was a red-letter event with three absolute legends. Worth your time.

As we see a continued push for less guided instruction, it’s important to know how that impacts our most vulnerable students. Teachers need to be more than guides on the side if we’re worried about teaching everyone. open.substack.com/pub/benzulauf/…

Good motto for life, and for education. Translation: No one is born a great cook, they learned it through practice, dedication, and passion.

Our colleagues at @deansforimpact just released The Science of Learning, 2nd ed! #TheScienceOfLearning2 includes updated research, pitfalls to avoid, and more, grounded in our best scientific understanding of how students learn. deansforimpact.org/thescienceofle…

“Change can be difficult, especially if the reasons for it haven’t been communicated clearly.” The convo around whole books is an important one. But, there’s more to it than simply counting texts. @natwexler latest Substack weighs in on considerations when looking at programs.

As Daniel Willingham says, “Children having broad background knowledge is central to reading comprehension.” This episode is a powerful reminder that knowledge is essential for helping students make meaning from what they read. 🎧🎙️ Listen now! ow.ly/Qo0Q50YtXFb

The @nytimes reminded us what happens when kids increase screen time and decrease ACTUAL reading: “In turn, schools expect less from students, assigning fewer whole books and simplifying the curriculum…” @CarolJago 📚Volume + Quality of texts matters📚 nytimes.com/2026/05/13/ups…

As my class was finishing up reading our latest novel, I was feeling joy. Our class has come a long way in reading fluency this year. During novel study I use an 80/20 approach (FASE/choral reading). Every one of my 5th graders has their own copy of the novel we are reading. Our district just adopted Bookworms, but I still use Reading Reconsidered Novel units as well. I committed this year to have my students read as much as possible throughout the school day. We began on day 1 and will end on the last day of school. My core ELA block consists of novel study and the Word Mapping Project curriculum, a curriculum I developed focused on vocabulary, spelling, and morphology instruction. They pair so nicely. Here is the list of novels our class read this year.

Daniel Willingham and Barbara Davidson explain why background knowledge is essential for comprehension. We’re rereleasing this episode along with a listening guide you can use while you tune in. Podcast Episode: ow.ly/93su50YtXFv Listening Guide: ow.ly/s4q650YtXFG

I taught 100 kids this year in 5th. Every day 2 positive notes went home in each class. they got brought up at every parent conference, and kids would beg for it to be their day. One of my best routines this year.