Building Knowledge
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to advance student comprehension by equipping teachers with knowledge-building, time-efficient lessons that integrate the science of reading and provide essential support for language learners.
OUR APPROACH
We believe knowledge is the foundation of curiosity, creativity, and innovation. It enables students to ask thoughtful questions and to evaluate answers critically. Knowledge is a prerequisite for understanding and an essential-yet often overlooked-component of reading comprehension.
Students grow their background knowledge by developing word knowledge, world knowledge, and an understanding of text structures. 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.
A Knowledge-Building Solution to Improve Reading Comprehension
School Districts across the country are seeing the same challenge. While many students are learning to decode, too many struggle to understand what they read. The Science of Reading makes this clear: Reading comprehension depends on strong vocabulary, language development, and background knowledge. When students lack knowledge of the world, comprehension suffers across all subjects.
The Background Knowledge Project was designed to address this gap.
A Research-Aligned Approach
Grounded in the Science of Reading, our lessons intentionally build the knowledge and language that power comprehension. Research shows knowledge-rich subjects like social studies play a critical role in developing academic vocabulary, oral language, and conceptual understanding to support long-term reading success.
Our first offering,
Stories That Shape Us: K–2 History Lessons, integrates literacy and social studies instruction in a practical, efficient, and impactful way.
Designed for Real Classrooms
Stories That Shape Us provides ready-to-use lessons that fit seamlessly into elementary schedules while strengthening reading outcomes districtwide.
- Explicit vocabulary and language development embedded in every lesson
- Coherent, cumulative content that systematically builds knowledge over time
- Aligned to literacy goals without adding instructional burden
- Minimal prep and teacher-friendly materials
Lessons are intentionally designed to support students who need the most support without limiting access for any learner.
Program Scope
Each lesson introduces students to meaningful historical content while strengthening foundational language skills and academic vocabulary to support reading comprehension.
- Kindergarten: 60 lessons (30 minutes each)
- Grade 1: 65 lessons (40 minutes each)
- Grade 2: 70 lessons (40 minutes each)
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.
ARTICLES
Every parent loves to see his or her children happy. So do we!
