One of the rumors making the rounds of K-12 educators goes something like this: The Common Core State Standards do not allow "prereading"--the pedagogical practice meant to help students better understand a text they are about to read--or for that matter any classroom activities that contextualize a text through outside sources. The interesting part of the rumor is not the rumor itself: It is just a misinterpretation of the Publisher's Criteria for the standards, which clearly state that "Student background knowledge and experiences can illuminate the reading ... " (Coleman & Pimentel, p. 7). What makes the misunderstanding interesting and vitally relevant to teachers is that it sheds light on some of the practices and underlying assumptions that have diluted the potency of reading education for years. Plainly stated: Prereading is no substitute for actual reading, but that does not mean that drawing on information outside the core text is a bad idea. In fact, one of the best ways to teach analytical reading is to actively tap into students' prior knowledge--the rich base of existing experiences and information that they bring with them to class each day. The Common Core allows prior knowledge, and the growing body of literature about the neuroscience of learning says it is key to the way humans build their interrelated networks of knowledge. As schools move toward full implementation of the Common Core, they must make sure that they help students leverage their prior knowledge, both to help strengthen their analytical skills and to lay a solid foundation for further learning.