Lesson with commentary
Organise knowledge: Primary and secondary (opens in a new tab)
AERO · F-10 · Australia
Teachers in primary and secondary classrooms show how they organise knowledge.
FreeOpens at edresearch.edu.au
Knowledge-rich curriculum
Knowledge-rich curriculum and coherence
Why what is taught, and in what order, matters as much as how it is taught. I've gathered webinars, podcast episodes and reading on knowledge-rich curriculum, sequencing and coherence, from planning a unit to whole-school curriculum design.
Practices in this area:SequencingVertical coherenceCore knowledgeKnowledge organisersCurriculum mapping
Watch 3
Lesson with commentary
Chalk Dust S2 E6: The Knowledge Rich Classroom of Laura Stam (opens in a new tab)
Chalk Dust · Year 3 · USA
Year 3 teacher Laura Stam shares a knowledge-rich history lesson from Wyoming, using a knowledge organiser, shared reading, choral responses, pair shares and sentence stems to build students' knowledge.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson with commentary
In chronological order: Neha Marvania's retrieval practice (opens in a new tab)
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Year 6 · 2021 · USA
Footage of a sixth grade history teacher in Newark running retrieval practice, with discussion of how the questions are designed to build lasting knowledge of the subject.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Learn 17
Explainer
Alignment: The Secret Sauce of Effective Schooling? (Peps Mccrea) (opens in a new tab)
Peps Mccrea · UK
Peps Mccrea asks whether alignment is the key ingredient of effective schooling. One for leadership teams thinking about how consistently a school works.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
What Do We Mean by a Knowledge-rich Curriculum? (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Heather Fearn · About 1 hour · 2025 · UK
Heather Fearn of Ark returns to first principles on why knowledge matters, what a knowledge-rich curriculum means for lesson design and the common pitfalls when schools adopt one.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Interview
Knowledge Building: Teaching Unpacked with Doug Lemov (opens in a new tab)
InnerDrive · F-12 · UK
Doug Lemov discusses knowledge building in InnerDrive's Teaching Unpacked series. One for teachers and leaders thinking about knowledge-rich curriculum.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Building Background Knowledge (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Jillian Robinson · About 45 minutes · 2025 · Australia
Jillian Robinson introduces four Teach Like a Champion tools for building background knowledge to support comprehension, including embedded non-fiction and knowledge organisers, with classroom footage.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Teaching Maths Using the Victorian Lesson Plans (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Sacha Giurietto · About 1 hour · 2025 · Australia
Sacha Giurietto walks through the Victorian Department of Education's free maths lesson plans, the position statement behind them and how schools can use them to teach maths explicitly.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Writing Is Built, Not Discovered (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Phil Coloca and Jeanette Breen · About 1 hour · 2026 · Australia
Phil Coloca and Jeanette Breen explore why students struggle with writing and argue for sentence-level instruction, modelling and a carefully sequenced writing curriculum.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Show 11 more
Webinar
Sharing the load: How five schools do whole-school curriculum planning (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Amy Haywood, Grattan Institute · 30 to 60 minutes · 2024 · Australia
Amy Haywood presents Grattan Institute findings on the planning load teachers carry alone, and how five schools set up shared whole-school curriculum planning.
Free account neededOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
How Writing Instruction Can Revolutionize Education (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Natalie Wexler · 30 to 60 minutes · 2024 · USA
Natalie Wexler argues that explicit writing instruction embedded in subject content can deepen knowledge, strengthen reading comprehension and build analytical thinking.
Free account neededOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Putting the Science of Learning into Primary Science (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with David Suter · 30 to 60 minutes · 2024 · Australia
Principal David Suter applies science of learning ideas to primary science, covering vocabulary, science inquiry versus inquiry learning, common misconceptions and formative assessment.
Free account neededOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Implementing the VC2.0 Mathematics Curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Sue Davis, Impact Curriculum (formerly Ochre Education) · 30 to 60 minutes · 2024 · Australia
Sue Davis gives an overview of the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 for mathematics and a planning path from yearly overviews to lessons using Ochre Education (now Impact Curriculum) materials.
Free account neededOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
A conversation with Adam Bright and Brad Nguyen from Docklands Primary School on school curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Grattan Institute, with Adam Bright and Brad Nguyen · About 45 minutes · Australia
Grattan Institute talks with Adam Bright and Brad Nguyen from Docklands Primary School about their school's curriculum. Useful for leaders thinking about curriculum across a school.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Talk
Reid Smith: Is knowing enough? (researchED Ballarat 2023) (opens in a new tab)
researchED, with Reid Smith · About 35 minutes · 2023 · Australia
Reid Smith's talk from researchED Ballarat 2023, asking whether knowing is enough. A prompt for teams thinking about the place of knowledge in the curriculum.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Talk
Adelle Holmes: Teaching maths with a common curriculum at Clarendon (researchED Ballarat 2025) (opens in a new tab)
researchED, with Adelle Holmes · About 45 minutes · 2025 · Australia
Adelle Holmes's researchED Ballarat 2025 talk on teaching maths with a common curriculum at Clarendon. Of interest to teams considering shared lesson materials.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Talk
Christine Counsell: The support our middle leaders need if curricula are to flourish (researchED Home) (opens in a new tab)
researchED, with Christine Counsell · About 65 minutes · UK
Christine Counsell's researchED Home talk on the support middle leaders need if a school's curriculum is to flourish. Aimed at leaders who work with subject and year-level leads.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Talk
Stephanie Le Lievre: A knowledge-based comprehension model (opens in a new tab)
Read Ballarat, with Stephanie Le Lievre · About 65 minutes · Australia
Stephanie Le Lievre presents a knowledge-based model of reading comprehension in a session for Read Ballarat. Useful for teachers rethinking how comprehension is taught.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Explainer
Teaching content is teaching reading (opens in a new tab)
Daniel Willingham · About 10 minutes · USA
Daniel Willingham's ten-minute video making the case that teaching content is teaching reading. Short enough to show in a staff meeting.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Developing a Knowledge-Rich Subject Curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators, with Heather Fearn · About 1 hour · 2025 · UK
Heather Fearn's follow-up session on how specialists and non-specialists can build and quality assure a subject curriculum, and why hierarchical and cumulative subjects need different sequencing.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Listen 10
FreeOpens at teachermagazine.com
Writing to consolidate knowledge
076 Writing to Learn (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Nathaniel Swain
Nathaniel Swain, a La Trobe University lecturer and former primary learning specialist, discusses how writing can be used to help students learn content.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Text-based units
S6 E26 What Goes into a Great Text-Based Unit? (opens in a new tab)
The Structured Literacy Podcast · with Jocelyn Seamer
Jocelyn Seamer shares how she writes and teaches text-based units that engage all students in age-appropriate content. A Summer Series replay of a listener favourite.
FreeOpens at buzzsprout.com
034 The Knowledge Gap (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Natalie Wexler
Journalist Natalie Wexler discusses The Knowledge Gap and her argument that building knowledge is central to reading comprehension in American schools.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Why knowledge matters
063 Why Knowledge Matters (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with E.D. Hirsch
E.D. Hirsch, founder of the Core Knowledge Foundation and author of Cultural Literacy, makes the case for why shared knowledge matters in schooling.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Knowledge-rich curriculum
S03E19 The Knowledge Gap and What Lies Beyond the Science of Reading (opens in a new tab)
Knowledge for Teachers · with Natalie Wexler
Natalie Wexler discusses what drives reading comprehension and why knowledge-rich instruction matters for every learner, drawing on The Knowledge Gap and Beyond the Science of Reading.
FreeOpens at knowledgeforteachers.podbean.com
Show 4 more
Curriculum as the foundation
077 The Importance of Curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Ben Jensen
Ben Jensen of Learning First explains why curriculum matters so much for school and system improvement, drawing on his advisory work across education systems.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Concept-led curriculum sequencing
083a Concept-led Curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Sam Gibbs
Sam Gibbs, trust lead for curriculum at the Greater Manchester Education Trust, explains concept-led curriculum design. This is part a of episode 83.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Shared lesson materials
S4 E3 Can Great Teaching Be Scripted? (opens in a new tab)
The Structured Literacy Podcast · with Jocelyn Seamer
Jocelyn Seamer looks beyond polarised views of scripted programs, using Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model to consider when scripts suit teachers at different stages.
FreeOpens at buzzsprout.com
Backwards design
021 Understanding by Design (opens in a new tab)
Education Research Reading Room · with Jay McTighe
Jay McTighe discusses Understanding by Design and planning backwards from the understandings students should reach.
FreeOpens at ollielovell.com
Read 34
What if transferable skills don’t exist? (opens in a new tab)
Daisy Christodoulou (No More Marking) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Christodoulou revisits a myth from her own book, arguing that skills such as creativity and critical thinking depend on knowledge of a particular domain, and considers what follows for schools.
FreeOpens at substack.nomoremarking.com
How to Make Social Studies "Magical" (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Wexler visits a New York sixth-grade civics class where rapid, game-like recall of history facts gives students the knowledge to analyse ideas, showing memorisation and engagement can go together.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
10 Rules for Designing Effective Learning (opens in a new tab)
Carl Hendrick (The Learning Dispatch) · Substack · 2025 · UK
Hendrick distils Engelmann and Carnine's Theory of Instruction into ten design rules about examples, boundaries and sequencing, showing how careful instructional design helps every student form concepts, not only the strongest.
FreeOpens at carlhendrick.substack.com
On powerful knowledge (opens in a new tab)
Rebecca Birch (On Education) · Substack · 2023 · Australia
Through a reading passage that leaves most readers lost, Birch shows how background knowledge shapes comprehension, and argues an ambitious curriculum is how schools give every student access to powerful knowledge.
FreeOpens at rebeccabirch.substack.com
Reading aloud is not a soft option (opens in a new tab)
Mary Myatt (Curriculum 101) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Makes the case that reading demanding texts aloud in every subject builds vocabulary, background knowledge and access to complex language for all pupils, including those who cannot yet read them alone.
FreeOpens at marymyatt.substack.com
Oracy floats on a sea of knowledge (opens in a new tab)
David Didau (The Learning Spy) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Didau weighs England's push to give oracy equal status with reading and writing. He argues students speak well when they know a lot, and sets out what schools should prioritise instead.
FreeOpens at daviddidau.substack.com
Show 28 more
Oracy in practice: Knowledge and the Voice 21 Benchmarks (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington rejects the idea that oracy competes with knowledge, and shows how the Voice 21 benchmarks place subject knowledge at the centre of talk in a rich curriculum.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
How Can You Tell If a Curriculum Truly Builds Knowledge? (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Using one widely adopted US program as a case study, Wexler explains how a curriculum can look knowledge-building but lack depth and coherence, and why ratings can mislead schools.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Knowledge-rich or information-rich? (opens in a new tab)
Paul Kirschner · Substack · 2026 · International
Kirschner separates a knowledge-rich curriculum, which is sequenced so ideas build on each other across years, from one that simply piles up facts, and explains why the difference matters for teachers and schools.
FreeOpens at paulkirschner173727.substack.com
Do knowledge-rich curriculums cause mental health problems? (opens in a new tab)
Daisy Christodoulou (No More Marking) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Christodoulou tests the claim that England's knowledge-rich reforms worsened young people's mental health, comparing trends across the UK nations and concluding the evidence does not support the link.
FreeOpens at substack.nomoremarking.com
Most Struggling Students Get "Incoherent" Instruction (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Wexler contrasts a struggling reader whose interventions are unrelated to class work with one whose support reinforces the core curriculum, and argues that coherence across support lowers cognitive load.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Ask the Cognitive Scientist: How Can Educators Teach Critical Thinking? (opens in a new tab)
Daniel Willingham · Article · 2020 · USA
Opens at aft.org
What does it mean to be knowledge-rich? (opens in a new tab)
Martin Ravindran, Think Forward Educators · Blog post · 2026 · Australia
Martin Ravindran reflects on a Learning First curriculum conference and what a rigorous, specific knowledge-rich curriculum would mean for Australian schools.
Opens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Why Subject Knowledge Still Matters (opens in a new tab)
Haili Hughes, Think Forward Educators · Blog post · 2026 · Australia
Associate Professor Haili Hughes of La Trobe University makes the case that what teachers know cannot be separated from how well they teach.
Opens at thinkforwardeducators.org
How Knowledge Helps: It speeds and strengthens reading comprehension, learning and thinking (opens in a new tab)
Daniel Willingham, American Educator · Article · 2006 · USA
Daniel Willingham explains why knowledge is more than grist for the mill, and how what students already know speeds and strengthens their reading comprehension, learning and thinking.
FreeOpens at aft.org
My kingdom for a reliable curriculum review (opens in a new tab)
Holly Korbey (The Bell Ringer) · Substack · 2025 · USA
Korbey looks at how US curriculum review platforms rate materials, why each one examines only part of the picture, and why evidence of impact is so often missing when schools choose.
FreeOpens at hollykorbey.substack.com
The untold story of Bloom's Taxonomy and the pyramid that never was (opens in a new tab)
Carl Hendrick (The Learning Dispatch) · Substack · 2026 · UK
A history of how a 1956 handbook for classifying exam questions became a pyramid that ranks thinking above knowledge, and why that reading misleads curriculum and lesson planning.
FreeOpens at carlhendrick.substack.com
On high quality instructional materials (opens in a new tab)
Rebecca Birch (On Education) · Substack · 2025 · Australia
Prompted by a Productivity Commission report, Birch discusses why quality-assured lesson materials matter for teacher time and student outcomes in Australia, and how they relate to teacher expertise.
FreeOpens at rebeccabirch.substack.com
The Beautiful (and Impossible) Dream of Transferable Reading Skills (opens in a new tab)
Doug Lemov (Doug Lemov's Field Notes) · Substack · 2026 · USA
In an excerpt from his guide to the science of reading, Lemov explains why the hope of teaching transferable comprehension skills is a chimera, and why inference and understanding depend on knowledge.
FreeOpens at douglemov.substack.com
From coverage to coherence (opens in a new tab)
Mary Myatt (Curriculum 101) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Drawing on a conversation with a head of maths, Myatt describes how a curriculum that revisits content without deepening it can be rebuilt so pupils connect ideas and grow more fluent.
FreeOpens at marymyatt.substack.com
Should Your Curriculum Incorporate Independent Reading? We're With Christopher Such (opens in a new tab)
The Curriculum Insight Project · Substack · 2024 · USA
Weighs the debate over independent reading time, siding with Christopher Such's view that reading volume matters but works best inside a structured, knowledge-building curriculum.
FreeOpens at curriculuminsightproject.substack.com
The curriculum 'forever soup' problem (opens in a new tab)
Trisha Jha (Publican Policy) · Substack · 2026 · Australia
Explains why content being in the curriculum often does not mean it is taught, and argues Australian systems need better visibility of what students actually learn.
FreeOpens at publicanpolicy.substack.com
A curriculum sequencing experiment (opens in a new tab)
Alex Blanksby (VIC Maths Notes) · Substack · 2026 · Australia
An attempt to reorganise the Australian maths curriculum by the progression of ideas rather than by year level, so teachers can see what comes before and after each concept.
FreeOpens at vmnalex.substack.com
Do Knowledge-Building Curricula Really Lack Whole Books? (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Wexler examines complaints that knowledge-building literacy curricula lack whole books, separating fair criticism from misunderstanding and noting what teachers report about students' stamina with longer texts.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Can we teach students to spot misinformation? (opens in a new tab)
Daisy Christodoulou (No More Marking) · Substack · 2025 · UK
Christodoulou describes how many students fail to spot even obvious hoaxes online, and argues that background knowledge matters more than generic media literacy for judging what is true.
FreeOpens at substack.nomoremarking.com
How to embed writing instruction into your English curriculum (opens in a new tab)
David Didau (The Learning Spy) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Didau explains how a Years 7 to 9 English curriculum can teach sentence and paragraph skills in short, controlled bursts, delaying extended essays until the parts are secure. It also promotes his resource pack.
FreeOpens at daviddidau.substack.com
Oracy in practice: Creating an oracy-rich curriculum by harnessing everyday routines (opens in a new tab)
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Using his tree metaphor, Sherrington sets out how a school can build an oracy-rich curriculum from routines teachers already use, starting with shared values about talk and listening.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Many Students Struggle to Read Beyond Third Grade (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2024 · USA
Wexler explains why many older students still struggle to read, why upper-grade teachers need different training from early-years teachers, and which approaches look promising.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Five Common Misconceptions About the Knowledge-Rich Curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Paul Kirschner · Substack · 2025 · International
Drawing on their work on new Flemish primary goals, the authors answer five objections to knowledge-rich curriculum, such as that it is disconnected facts, stifles creativity or is too ambitious.
FreeOpens at paulkirschner173727.substack.com
Responsive Teaching Part 1: Learning is Recursive Not Linear (opens in a new tab)
Carl Hendrick (The Learning Dispatch) · Substack · 2025 · UK
Written while working with Australian schools, Hendrick explains why learning is recursive rather than linear, what responsive teaching involves, and which lethal mutations to avoid.
FreeOpens at carlhendrick.substack.com
On reading spines (opens in a new tab)
Rebecca Birch (On Education) · Substack · 2024 · Australia
Birch reflects on co-creating a reading spine, a planned sequence of whole texts across the years, and on why schools should ensure every student has a copy of the books they study.
FreeOpens at rebeccabirch.substack.com
Sequencing the curriculum (opens in a new tab)
Mary Myatt (Curriculum 101) · Substack · 2022 · UK
A brief guide to sequencing a curriculum around the key concepts in a subject, so that big ideas thread through lessons and help pupils connect new content to what they know.
FreeOpens at marymyatt.substack.com
What should we do about the "forgotten third"? (opens in a new tab)
Daisy Christodoulou (No More Marking) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Christodoulou argues that the answer for older students who leave school without basic English and maths is better teaching of foundational skills, rather than steering them early into vocational routes.
FreeOpens at substack.nomoremarking.com
To Boost Learning, Weave Writing Activities Into Regular Instruction (opens in a new tab)
Natalie Wexler (Minding the Gap) · Substack · 2024 · USA
Wexler shows how explicit writing activities can be woven into discussion of content-rich lessons, moving between talk and writing to deepen understanding and build stronger writers.
FreeOpens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Research 2
Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools (opens in a new tab)
Grattan Institute · 2022 · Report
Opens at grattan.edu.au
The Role of Background Knowledge in Reading Comprehension: A critical review (opens in a new tab)
Reid Smith, Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry and Lorraine Hammond · 2021 · Open access · Reading Psychology
An open-access critical review of the research on the part background knowledge plays in reading comprehension, published in Reading Psychology in 2021.
Opens at doi.org
Voices 5
Nathaniel Swain (opens in a new tab)
Substack and podcast · Australia
Opens at nathanielswain.substack.com
Natalie Wexler (opens in a new tab)
Substack · USA
Opens at nataliewexler.substack.com
Daniel Willingham (opens in a new tab)
Articles · USA
Opens at danielwillingham.com
Grattan Institute (opens in a new tab)
Reports · Australia
Opens at grattan.edu.au
Ofsted research reviews (opens in a new tab)
Reviews · UK
Opens at gov.uk
Curriculum 1
Read2Learn (opens in a new tab)
Think Forward Educators · English: Reading comprehension units · Australia
Volunteer-written Australian units for teaching reading comprehension explicitly within a knowledge-rich curriculum, with slides, workbooks, readings and assessments. Trial units open from a shared Google Drive folder.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org