Leave instruction to the experts!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 onesPrereading activities can help students meet the strategic and conceptual demands of textsStrategy instruction can result in a careful and critical analysis of text while providing transferable understandingsInquiry units around essential questions can generate meaningful conversation and higher-order thinking

Foreword by Grant WigginsAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. The Promise and the Peril of the Common Core State Standards What¿s to Like About the CCSS What¿s to Worry About What the Standards Leave OutChapter 2. Old Wine in Broken Bottles: The Common Core State Standards and "Zombie New Criticism" A Lesson From the Classroom Where the Authors of the Standards Go Wrong About Connecting Texts With Lived Experience How You Can Get It Right Sticking With the Standards (Not With the Instructional Mandates That Showed Up Later)Chapter 3. Using the Most Powerful Resource We Have for Teaching Students Something New: The Case for Background Knowledge Where the Authors of the Standards Go Wrong About Pre-Reading Instruction Why It Matters Preparing Students to Comprehend How You Can Get It Right: Five Strategies That Connect Students With Critical Concepts Moving Students to IndependenceChapter 4. Teaching for Transfer: Why Students Need to Learn How to Attend to Any Text Where the Authors of the Standards Go Wrong About Closed-Ended, Text-Based Questions Why It Matters How You Can Get It Right: Six Strategies That Increase Comprehension and Independence Moving Students to IndependenceChapter 5. No Text Is an Island: How to Get Students Farther With Text-by-Text Sequencing Where the Authors of the Standards Go Wrong About Text-to-Text Connections Why It Matters How You Can Get It Right: Three Strategies for Developing Knowledge Across TextsChapter 6. Aiming for Complex Interpretation: How to Be Street Smart About Choosing Complex Texts Where Interpretations of the Standards Get It Wrong Three Ways to Choose the Right Books for Your KidsChapter 7. Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are: Our Unit for Teaching "Letter From Birmingham Jail" David Coleman on King¿s "Letter" An Alternative Approach: Our Unit for Teaching the "Letter" A Sample Unit: "Letter From Birmingham Jail" A Summary of This Unit¿s Approaches Principles of Practice Accountability and Assessments Final ThoughtsReferencesIndex