KnowAtom: A Science Curriculum That's Working for a Few Lynn Schools

In 2010, the Lincoln-Thomson Elementary School in Lynn implemented a new science program which was initially created by a Salem-based elementary science organization called KnowAtom  (see here). The change was precipitated by the 5th grades students poor performance on the science MCAS exam in 2008 and 2009. At Lincoln-Thomson, 38% of 5th grade students achieved proficient or higher on the 2008 science MCAS exam; this number decreased to just 36% in 2009. After implementing the KnowAtom Science Program mid-school year, Lincoln-Thomson saw the percentage of students achieving proficient or higher increase by 33 points and the percentage of students failing in science decrease to zero on 2010 MCAS exam. In 2011, the percentage of students achieving proficient or higher decreased slightly to 61% but the percentage of students who failed the exam amazingly remained zero.

So what is KnowAtom?

Developed by former Lynn Classical math and science teacher Francis Vigeant in 2005, KnowAtom is "a collection of curriculum, pedagogy, materials, and professional development that work together to advance elementary school knowledge and application of science, engineering, and technology."  The science program is geared toward elementary and middle school students and includes all of the curricular elements, materials and professional development that teachers need in order to focus science instruction on literacy and critical thinking. Specifically, the curriculum, which is hands-on and inquiry-based, utilizes the following components:

• Stepped Units - Unites are designed to create a complete picture of the many areas that science reaches.
• Stepped Progression - As students progress through each grade level, basic concepts are reinforced and applied with new concepts
• Stepped Processes - Students master specific goals within the Scientific Method and Engineering Design Process at every grade level. 
• Pacing - Each year of the KnowAtom curriculum is comprised of 10-15 units. Breaking down larger concepts into specific topics increases the diversity of material exposed to student. Furthermore, a topic like electrical energy can be discussed through circuits, magnetism, batteries, motors and generators over different grade levels. This approach has been found to help students continuously review concepts from year to year.

The KnowAtom curriculum  includes  lesson plans, visual aids and non-fiction readers while the pedagogy itself is based on common language across grade levels and personal relevance (integrating students' experiences within classroom discussions around scientific topics). The system also uses various classroom materials kits and consumable materials for hands-on activities. Students also learn scientific thinking through the laboratory notebooks they maintain in all grade levels; these notebooks also help with literacy and writing skills and reinforcing knowledge. KnowAtom also provides professional development for teachers in order to help them create "inquiry based learning environments for science and engineering." Professional development workshop topics include "The Scientific Method in the Elementary Classroom," "and "Developing Critical Thinking with Inquiry in the Classroom;"other workshops, like one entitled "Physical Science Abridged," help educators translate biology or physics terminology into language that young students can easily understand.

Here's a sample of some of the topics covered using this system:


First Grade
Changing Matter
Air
Storms
Water Flow
Insects


Second Grade
Solar System
Grow a Garden
Moth vs. Butterfly
Simple Circuits
Walls and Dams


Third Grade
Understanding Atoms
Anatomy of Earth
The Food Chain
Electricity
Engineering Bridges

Fourth Grade
Measuring Matter
Living Cells
Plant and Animal Life Cycles
Sound Waves
Light and Color


Fifth Grade
Buoyancy
Rocks and Minerals
Hurricanes
Growing Cells
Designing Roller Coasters


Since KnowAtom's successful implementation at Lincoln-Thomson, four other Lynn elementary schools, including the Tracy and Harrington Elementary Schools, have begun using this particular science program. At Tracy, the percentage of students who failed the 5th grade science MCAS exam has steadily decreased from 45% in 2008 to 31% in 2011. Between 2008 and 2010, zero to one percent of students at Harrington scored advanced on the science MCAS exam. This number increased to 3% in 2011 after the KnowAtom science program was implemented; the percentage of students failing the exam has decreased from 50% in 2008 to 37% in 2011. Perhaps because of the results it produces, the KnowAtom program has received support from a number of Lynn principals and the Lynn Teacher's Union. Funding has been an issue, however, as replenishing the essential pre-packaged kits costs money and as one principal lamented, "Our prioritized district and school focus has been in the ELA [English Language Arts] and Math content areas. Science was secondary in the chain of funding, especially with federal, state, and city budget cuts (here)." As KnowAtom has proven to effectively teach and engage children in science, it would behoove other Lynn school principals along with the Lynn School Committee to consider ways to implement this program in all of the 16 elementary schools and possibly in the three middle schools as well. Despite standardized testing pressures, Lynn students deserve a strong, well-rounded education which, in addition to language arts and math, includes science.


  
*For more information about KnowAtom, see: http://www.knowatom.com/

*MCAS -related data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu

The Massachusetts State Curriculum: Reading Standards for Literature By Grade

In July 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. The Massachusetts Curriculum for ELA represents both the national Common Core State Standards and standards and features specific to Massachusetts (those identified by the letters 'MA'). It should be noted that while the state curriculum serves academic standards to be met, there are limitations. Most notably, the state curriculum does not describe or mandate how to teach each topic or even the best practices regarding 'effective' teaching in each area. Also, the standards do not define the intervention methods that may be necessary to support children that are well-below average or the full range of supports appropriate for English language learners or students with special needs. Still, the curriculum is significant in that it describes what students should learn and when they should learn it. Here are some (i.e. not all) of the reading standards for literature by grade for students at the elementary level: 

Kindergarten

• With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

• Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. 

• Recognize common types of texts (storybooks, poems, etc.).
• With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

• Identify and respond to characteristics of traditional poetry for children: rhyme, regular beats, and repetition of sounds, words and phrases (MA).
• Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. 

Grade 1

• Retell stories, including key details and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson

• Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

• Identify words and phrases in stories that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
• Explain the major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types. 

• Identify characteristics commonly shared by folktales and fairy tales (MA).

• With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

Grade 2

• Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when and how to demonstrate to understanding of key details in a text.

• Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. 
• Describe the overall structure of the story, including how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. 

• Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud. 

• Identify dialogue as words spoken by characters (usually enclosed in quotation marks) and explain what dialogue adds to a particular story or poem (MA).

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity proficiently with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Grade 3

• Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. 
• Describe characters in a story (e.g. their traits, motivations or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. 

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from non-literal language.

• Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

• Identify elements of fiction (e.g. characters, setting, plot, problem, solution) and elements of poetry (rhyme, rhythm, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia) (MA).

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Grade 4

• Determine a theme of a story, drama or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. 

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (ex. Herculean).

• Explain major differences between poems, drama and prose and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g. verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g. casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions).
• Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text. 

• Locate and analyze examples of similes and metaphors in stories, poems, folktales and plays and explain how these literary devices enrich the text (MA).

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 complexity band proficiently with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Grade 5

• Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 

• Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g. how the characters interact).

• Explain how a series of chapters, scenes or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama or poem. 

• Locate and analyze examples of foreshadowing in stories, poems, folktales, and plays (MA). 
• Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g. mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics. 

• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently. 

Citation:

Massachusetts Department of Education
                 http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0311.pdf