The Common Core State Standards developers acknowledge that the Standards set grade-specific standards but do not define the intervention methods or materials necessary to support students who are well below or well above grade-level expectations,” and that, “These Standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business…. They are a call to take the next step.” What, then, is the next step? We will explore strategies in curriculum and lesson design to support: Establishing essential elements; developing pre-formative, and summative assessments to inform instruction; tiering by cognitive complexity; and infusing creative-thinking skills.