Since these tasks are set in realistic contexts, they offer the natural vehicle for integrating the so-called 21st century skills (e.g., creativity, technology use, teamwork) with subject area content knowledge and skills. Like a cornerstone anchors a building, these tasks are meant to anchor the curriculum around the most important performances that we want learners to be able to do (on their own) with acquired content knowledge and skills.
The fourth category, Cornerstone Tasks, are curriculum-embedded tasks that are intended to engage students in applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic and relevant context. On the contrary, it is expected that they be addressed across the grades with application to varied topics, problems, texts and contexts. The term, overarching, conveys the idea that these understandings and questions are not limited to a single grade or topic. Here are examples for Mathematics and English Language Arts, respectively: The Understandings state what skilled performers will need in order to effectively transfer their learning to new situations, while explorations of the Essential Questions engage learners in making meaning and deepening their understandings. The second and third unpacking categories - Overarching Understandings and Essential Questions - are like two sides of a coin. Indeed, the College and Career Anchor Standards in ELA specify long-term transfer goals, while the Mathematics Standards strongly suggest a goal such as, Students will be able to use the mathematics they know to solve “messy,” never-seen-before problems using effective mathematical reasoning. Unlike earlier generations of standards where transfer goals were implicit at best, the Common Core Standards have made them more overt. They reflect the ultimate goals, the reason we teach specific knowledge and skills. The first category, Transfer Goals, identifies the effective uses of content understanding, knowledge, and skill that we seek in the long run i.e., what we want students to be able to do when they confront new challenges - both in and outside of school.
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