The Common Core State Standards are not perfect, but they have changed high-school English teacher Lyn Cannaday's classroom for the better. In this commentary, Cannaday describes a curriculum in which nonfiction and fiction works are studied simultaneously and nonfiction is used to help students understand fiction. The result, she writes, is that her students have a better understanding of what they are reading and are able to simulate real-world experiences by conducting their own research.