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KnowAtom is a Certified Lexile® Partner. All of KnowAtom’s curriculum is grade-level specific and scaffolding, and our reading material is certified at grade level by The Lexile® Framework for Reading. 

KnowAtom is constructivist-designed to allow multiple entry points to the three dimensions. The pedagogy used in KnowAtom removes barriers to access by giving students an opportunity to engage in all three dimensions through multiple learning styles: auditory, kinesthetic, visual, tactile, and read-write. KnowAtom also gives specific support for portfolio assessment.

KnowAtom curriculum uses the 5E instructional cycle to connect the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards through problem-based learning. We do this by engaging students’ curiosity with phenomena that they unpack through Socratic dialogue, investigations, scientific experiments, and engineering challenges where student teams independently explore their own ideas and share their findings using a claim-evidence-reasoning model. Learn more about how we do this by clicking here.

Computers are optional in KnowAtom. KnowAtom supports 100% digital as well as 100% print learning environments. All reading materials, visuals, and assessments are available online through the KnowAtom Interactive and can be distributed through most learning management systems like Google Classroom. The Interactive also provides teachers with videos that further explore phenomena.

Laptops or tablets enhance Socratic dialogue with SocraCircle, KnowAtom’s innovative online tool for engaging all students in inner circle-outer circle dialogue. 

Each KnowAtom unit includes labs and investigations, which form the core of the student-driven inquiry process and are in and of themselves assessments. They are primarily formative assessments because teachers use each element of the lab or investigation as a coaching opportunity to guide or redirect students as needed. They also provide teachers with the opportunity to differentiate instruction and modify their instructional approach, incorporating necessary supports or releasing additional responsibility where appropriate. 

In addition to the investigations and labs, there are also reading comprehension questions and vocabulary and scenario-driven concept assessments at the end of the lesson or unit that can be used as summative or formative assessments.

KnowAtom’s K-8 curriculum was designed specifically for NGSS, fully incorporating the practices and crosscutting concepts and following the progression of disciplinary core ideas in each grade level. The curriculum is phenomena-driven and student-centered, ensuring that students are actively engaged as scientists and engineers in the three dimensions that support each performance expectation.