Core Knowledge Foundation

Five summer reads for upper elementary that build knowledge AND keep kids genuinely hooked. 📚

Hand-picked from Core Classics and the Core Knowledge Free Library, perfect for 4th and 5th graders:

📖 The Iliad and the Odyssey (Core Classics): Homer’s epic, beautifully adapted

📖 Trail of Tears: Walking the Narrow Path, a story-driven historical narrative

📖 Marie Curie: The Invention of Knowledge, the woman who reshaped science

📖 Booker T. Washington: Turning Nothing Good into Something Fine, courage and resilience

📖 From Latin America and the Caribbean: A Collection of Tales, global folktales kids will reread

All five are free, knowledge-rich, and the kind of books that quietly build the background knowledge they’ll bring into next year.

Build your 4th and 5th grader’s summer reading list at coreknowledgefreelibrary.org

Middle schoolers don’t need a summer reading slump. They need a summer reading list. 📚

Five free titles to throw on the summer pile, hand-picked from the Core Classics series and Core Knowledge Free Library:

📖 Thomas Edison: How a Boy Who Learned Differently Changed the World

📖 Treasure Island: pirates, mutiny, buried gold

📖 The Gilded Age: Stone by Stone

📖 A Midsummer Night’s Dream

📖 The Tang Dynasty: The Prophecy of Empress Wu

Cultural literacy. Genuine page-turners. Zero cost.

Build your middle schooler’s summer list at coreknowledge.org/free-resource/core-classics-series and coreknowledgefreelibrary.org

Dr. Looney's words point to something every Core Knowledge teacher already knows: a shared body of knowledge changes what's possible in a classroom, and the teachers are the ones who make it real.

The Core Knowledge vision lives, not on a page, but in the hands of the educators who teach it every day.

Teachers using Core Knowledge are giving their students more than content. They're giving them:

🔹 The vocabulary to understand what they read

🔹 The historical context to make sense of the world

🔹 The cultural touchstones that open doors to deeper learning

🔹 The confidence that comes from knowing things

That's a vision that lives one classroom and one student at a time.

“After spending over $5,000 on a curriculum that just didn’t work for us, this curriculum is a total lifesaver. 💛”

We received this message from a homeschool mom recently, and we wanted to share what she had to say:

“I’m teaching a child with autism, and it’s incredibly helpful to have both the struggling learners and advanced choices when teaching. The teacher resources make it seamless to explain and help him meet his needs where he’s at.

Everything is incredibly easy to understand even without a teaching degree. This curriculum means the absolute world to us right now. Thank you immensely!”

This is exactly why we make our curriculum free, so every family, every teacher, every kid can access knowledge-rich learning, no matter their circumstances.

To this family and every homeschool parent doing the work: thank you for trusting us.

Explore the free Core Knowledge curriculum: coreknowledge.org

The countdown is on. Just over a month until the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Whether you’re prepping classroom lessons or planning a hands-on July 4th week with your kids at home, our free Declaration of Independence activities are made to make this moment unforgettable.

Inside each grade-band unit:

🇺🇸 Grades K–2: Design a birthday card for America that honors the Declaration as a key symbol

🇺🇸 Grades 3–6: Try the “spaghetti tension” activity to feel the historical breaking point, then turn the Declaration’s words into blackout poetry

🇺🇸 Grades 7–8: Trace how the Declaration’s ideals inspired movements in France, Haiti, and Vietnam

Zero prep. Full lesson plans included.

Download all the free activities and start planning: https://www.coreknowledge.org/declaration-of-independence-activities/

"Federico was spying for the Union army. But he wasn't perched on a tree limb or lying flat on a hilltop. He was balancing inside a wicker basket hundreds of feet in the air."

Meet Federico Fernández Cavada, a true testament to Caribbean American Heritage Month. Born in Cuba and raised in Philadelphia, Federico's artistic talents led to his assignment to the Hot Air Balloon Unit of the Union Army to sketch enemy movements.

But his fight for freedom didn't end there. Federico later returned to Cuba as a general in the fight for independence from Spain.

One incredible life. A whole world of history packed into one unforgettable story: "Federico Fernández Cavada: The Spy in the Hot-Air Balloon," a Voices in History biography.

📌 Save this read-aloud for your next history lesson. Grab the link in the comments below.

Colorado teachers and homeschool parents, the new free Grade 4 unit is here. ⛰️

The Story of Colorado is a brand-new free unit from CK In Your State History, and it gives 4th graders the full sweep of the state's story from the first peoples in the region all the way to today.

Across 9 lessons, students explore:

🔹 The land itself, mountains, plains, rivers, and how geography shaped Colorado life
🔹 Exploration, settlement, and the path to statehood
🔹 How Colorado shaped (and was shaped by) the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Cold War
🔹 How the state government works today

Includes a Student Reader, Teacher Guide, Timeline Cards, and Online Resources. Pacing is flexible (30 to 130 days), and like everything we make, it's completely free.

Download The Story of Colorado today: https://www.coreknowledge.org/free-resource/ck-in-your-state-history-colorado-grade-4-the-story-of-colorado/

The school year is winding down... which means it's the perfect time to reflect on what worked and start planning for next year.

For the latest product releases, free classroom enrichment resources, and updates from Core Knowledge Foundation delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletter.

Be the first to know what's new, what's free, and what inspiring ideas you can build into next year's plans.

📨 https://www.coreknowledge.org/stay-in-the-know/

Spring is the season of growth for gardens, for students, and for classrooms. 🌱

As you look ahead to the end of the school year, CKF's curriculum sets for Science and History & Civics are designed to keep students engaged, building knowledge, and excited to learn.

The Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™ includes student readers, teacher guides, activity books, and more. Everything you need to finish the year strong without starting from scratch.

Cross-curricular connections across science, history, civics, biographies, and more.

Explore what's available for your grade level today.

🔗 coreknowledge.org/science/ | coreknowledge.org/history-geography/

Arizona teachers and homeschool parents, this one is for you. 🌵

The Story of Arizona is a brand new free Grade 3 unit from CK In Your State History, and it gives kids the full sweep of the state's story from the first peoples who lived here all the way to today.

Across 8 lessons, students explore:

🔹 The land itself, deserts, mountains, rivers, and how it shaped life
🔹 Arizona's colonial history and path to statehood
🔹 How Arizona shaped (and was shaped by) the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Cold War
🔹 How the state government works today

Includes a Student Reader, Teacher Guide, Timeline Cards, and Online Resources. Pacing is flexible (30 to 130 days), and like everything we make, it's completely free.

Download The Story of Arizona today: https://www.coreknowledge.org/free-resource/ck-in-your-state-history-arizona-grade-3-the-story-of-arizona/