What Does It Mean To Teach The Standards?

 

When I started teaching 27 years ago (31 as of the 2025-2026 school year), there were no standards.
No state tests.
No real expectations of what to teach.

When I asked for something like a set of standards, my assistant principal handed me a thin curriculum guide with some suggested pacing. And that was it.

Fast forward to today, and the pendulum has swung all the way to the other side—we have standards for everything, tests to match, and endless ways to track mastery.

But here’s the thing: even with standards in place, it’s not always clear how to teach them.

Take this Common Core reading anchor standard:

Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

At first glance, you might think, “Okay, I’ll just talk about main idea as we’re reading a novel, and we’re good.” But the reality? That’s only scratching the surface.

To truly teach a standard, we have to deconstruct it—break it down into teachable steps that students can follow and practice.

When I’m planning, I ask myself:

1. What does it mean to determine a theme? 

2. What are the steps?

3. How do we know we've found the theme?

When I can answer these questions in ways that I can clearly explain to students, I know I’m ready to plan pathways to reach that standard.

This is known as "teaching with the end in mind."  

I'll start at the end as step #1 and figure out what the end result should be.  

Step #2 - Then, in order to do that, they'll need some successful practice - but not just one and done.  There also needs to be some hands-on engagement.

Step #3 - Then in order to practice they'll need the steps to use - a plan for finding it, like a recipe that we keep in our notes. 

Step #4 - And then in order to do that, they'll need to know the definitions of certain words.

Each step is designed to foster success in the students, and when we collaboratively work on a plan with the right tools and the belief that students can do it, they will.

If you’re thinking that all this deconstruction takes time, you’re right—it does. That’s why I’ve already done the heavy lifting for you. I’ve broken down the first 8 Reading Anchor Standards into vocabulary, notes, practice activities, and assessments so you can jump right into teaching.

You can even try my Theme Unit for free—it’s waiting for you inside my Free Resource Library.

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Don’t spend hours searching for that great idea you found.  Just pin this to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so you can quickly and easily come back when you are ready.  You’ll be glad you did!