"Scientific research evidence doesn’t say don’t teach comprehension skills and strategies explicitly; it says don’t only teach comprehension skills and strategies explicitly."

My favorite quote:
“[K]nowledge & skills are a false dichotomy. Ingredients and cakes are also a false dichotomy! You can’t be pro-cake and anti-ingredient!! If we accept that knowledge and skills are a false dichotomy, then we should also accept that knowledge and skills are NOT on a pendulum. The pendulum is the wrong metaphor. The right metaphor is a pathway, a ladder or a journey.” 

"Nearly all of our most important goals for education—greater reading comprehension, the ability to think critically
and solve problems, even higher test scores—are a function of the depth and breadth of our knowledge. Although current events and technology are constantly changing, there is a body of lasting knowledge and skills that form the core of a strong Preschool through Grade 8 curriculum. Explicit identification of what children should learn at each grade level ensures a coherent approach to building knowledge across all grade levels, making efficient and effective use of instructional time. Every child should learn the fundamentals of science, basic principles of government, important events in history, essential elements of mathematics, widely acknowledged masterpieces of art and music from around the world, and stories and poems passed down from generation to generation."

G4-5: 90 minutes (advanced word study+language/reading comprehension+ writing)

1 hour module lesson (engaging w/ complex text/comprehension)

1 hour labs (hands-on application of content to build background, vocab, oral language, and shared knowledge)

1 hour Foundations Skills Block

More info on labs: designed to help teachers ensure that all of their students get the time to build content knowledge, become immersed in oral language, play and explore, and practice skills and habits of character they need—both to live joyfully and to be fully successful and proficient.

• K-12, knowledge building/comprehension + writing ONLY--need a separate word recognition and morphology program, includes writing

• free, originally created for a group of charter schools and then they created a non-for-profit to give access to all

• Better version, Fishtank Plus has a fee

• FISHTANK LEARNING KNOWLEDGE INVENTORY (K-8)

  • Global Applicability: 78.57%

  • American-centric: 21.43%