Building Knowledge

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PURPOSE

Ensure every student builds the knowledge they need to understand and engage with the world around them.

MISSION

Advance student comprehension by building student knowledge.

APPROACH

We create and share free, knowledge-rich lessons grounded in the science of reading that accelerate comprehension and support all learners.

We help students understand what they read by building their knowledge through free, knowledge-rich lessons grounded in the science of reading and designed for real classrooms.

Our resources are thoughtfully designed around seven guiding principles that support this growth and inspire a lifelong love of learning.

01 Educational Equity

Regardless of a student’s socioeconomic background or the language spoken at home, units of study should be designed with the assumption that students may have limited background knowledge. Essential vocabulary and foundational concepts should be intentionally developed throughout the sequence of lessons.


02 Less is More

Elementary teachers have limited time to devote to knowledge-building subjects such as science and social studies.  Teachers need short lessons that fit within their schedules and help students gain and retain essential knowledge.


03 Integration

Lessons within a unit of study must be integrated with the application of disciplinary literacy skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.


04 Content then Standards

Content drives standard selection. Students use the skills described in the standards to learn the content.


05 Inquiry

Both teacher and student-generated questions are central to student learning. 

06 Evaluating Sources

Students need opportunities to evaluate primary and secondary sources as they engage in inquiry. 

07 Knowledge is Transferable

A student’s personal knowledge provides a framework for organizing incoming information and guides them as they read through any text.  Knowledge helps improve reading comprehension across all subjects.

Logo: Brown tree growing from an open book; green text:

K–2 History Lessons


Learning history helps young students understand the world and their place in it. It builds curiosity, teaches how events connect over time, and introduces children to different people and perspectives. Talking about historical stories also strengthens vocabulary, listening, and storytelling skills.


Research shows knowledge-building subjects like social studies develop the academic knowledge and vocabulary that powers reading comprehension.  Yet finding time for social studies in the elementary school day can be challenging.


To address this, we have created a managable number of  30-45 min lessons designed to build three types of background knowledge systematically:

  • Word Knowledge- Academic vocabulary that strengthens comprehension
  • Content Knowledge- Core facts, concepts and historical understanding
  • Knowledge of Text Structure- Understanding how sentences are texts are organized to support reading and communication




Ready to Use

Easy-to-use,  printable lesson plans

All materials included and linked

Vocabulary instruction embedded in context

Foundational language skills integrated throughout

Built in supports for multilingual learners

Program Scope

Kindergarten: 60 lessons (30 minutes each)

Grade 1: 65 lessons (40-45 minutes each)

Grade 2: 70 lessons (40-45 minutes each)

SAMPLE Kindergarten LESSON

Be Smart.

BeeHydrated!

Be Smart. Beehydrated! is an educational program for elementary aged students developed by Kendrick Fincher Hydration for Life. This program was created to be a resource for teachers to seamlessly integrate life-saving and healthy concepts and activities into existing lessons across the curriculum.



Check Out More

ARTICLES

Every parent loves to see his or her children happy. So do we!

History Matters Campaign

By Susan Mackey • March 18, 2026
It's time to start talking about elementary history Instruction. The History Matters Campaign demonstrates how historical content knowledge is uniquely positioned to support literacy.

Why Schools Aren't Equipping Students for Citizenship

By Susan Mackey • March 4, 2026
Why Schools Aren't Equipping Students for Citizenship – Natalie Wexler, Minding the Gap (February 18,2026) A new book lays bare a pervasive lack of historical knowledge--and a new curriculum tool suggests a path forward.

An Introduction to Cognitive Load Theory

By Jamie Redcay • January 5, 2026
Without an understanding of human cognitive architecture, instruction is blind. – Dr Vicki Likourezos, The Education Hub (March 3, 2021) Cognitive load theory helps us to understand how people generally learn and store new information, and the types of instructional practices that best support learning. It draws on the characteristics of working memory and long-term memory and the relationship between them to explain how people learn. Cognitive load theory emerged in the late 1980s from the work of John Sweller and his colleagues. The theory is based on our knowledge of the structure and processes of the human mind, known as human cognitive architecture. Human cognitive architecture helps us understand how we learn, think, and solve problems. It is considered to be a natural information processing system that generates various procedures designed to reduce cognitive load and facilitate the acquisition of biologically secondary knowledge held in long-term memory.