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
• Pre-reading 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
