Professional Development
Releasing responsibility and teaching Thinking Moves are not separate instructional goals in KnowAtom classrooms. They are mutually reinforcing. When teachers intentionally release the cognitive load of learning to students, Thinking Moves become the tools students use to do that work. When Thinking Moves are visible, named, and practiced, students are able to carry responsibility for sensemaking with increasing independence.
This article explores how Thinking Moves function as the bridge between student agency and intellectual independence, grounded in KnowAtom’s phenomena-based lesson structure.
Students require agency to engage their curiosity
Curiosity is not something teachers can deliver to students. It emerges when students experience themselves as responsible for figuring something out. Learning science research consistently shows that agency is a prerequisite for sustained curiosity because learners are more motivated when they feel ownership over questions and ideas (Ritchhart, 2015).
In KnowAtom lessons, curiosity is sparked by a shared phenomenon, but it is sustained by what happens next. When teachers hold too much responsibility, students may participate, but they are less likely to wonder, notice, or pursue ideas deeply. Releasing responsibility signals trust: students are expected to notice patterns, raise questions, and test ideas using evidence.
Kindergarten example
In Kindergarten Unit 3: Making Things Move, students observe how marbles move across different surfaces. When the teacher resists explaining why a marble slows down and instead invites students to share what they notice about texture and movement, students begin generating their own questions about friction. Their curiosity grows because their observations matter and drive the investigation.
Grades 1–2 example
In Grade 2 Unit 3: Land and Water, students create 3D landform models and observe how water flows over them. Curiosity increases when students are responsible for interpreting why water pools in some places and flows quickly in others, rather than being told the answers. The responsibility for noticing patterns rests with students.
Grades 3–5 example
In Grade 4 Unit 8: Sound Waves, students investigate how changing the vibration of a string affects pitch and volume. When teachers refrain from naming relationships prematurely, students become curious about inconsistencies in their data and propose their own explanations that require further testing.
Grades 6–8 example
In Grade 6 Unit 2: Atoms and Molecules, students build atomic models to explain properties of matter. Curiosity deepens when students are expected to reconcile differences between models, rather than accept a single “correct” representation. Their questions emerge from intellectual responsibility.
Across grade levels, agency is not about choice for its own sake. It is about responsibility for thinking.
Thinking Moves help students use curiosity to develop and use ideas
Curiosity alone does not lead to understanding. Students need ways to work with their ideas. Thinking Moves provide that structure. They help students notice carefully, make connections, build explanations, consider alternatives, and revise thinking over time (Ritchhart, Church, & Morrison, 2011).
In KnowAtom classrooms, Thinking Moves are embedded in the lesson cadence, not taught as isolated strategies. They shape how students interact with phenomena, models, data, and one another.
Kindergarten example
In Kindergarten Unit 2: Living Things Change, students observe bean plants over time. Thinking Moves such as noticing changes, comparing today’s plant to yesterday’s, and explaining why leaves might be drooping help students turn curiosity into developing explanations. The teacher’s role is to surface these moves through questions, not to supply conclusions.
Grades 1–2 example
In Grade 1 Unit 6: Animal Behaviors, students analyze patterns in parent and offspring behaviors. Thinking Moves like categorizing, identifying purpose, and asking “What does this help the animal do?” allow students to use their curiosity to build conceptual understanding.
Grades 3–5 example
In Grade 5 Unit 7: Matter and Electricity, students test which materials conduct electricity. Thinking Moves such as predicting, testing assumptions, and revising explanations help students move from curiosity about why a bulb lights to evidence-based models of electric current.
Grades 6–8 example
In Grade 8 Unit 4: From Molecules to Organisms, students analyze how cells extract energy. Thinking Moves like tracing systems, connecting structure to function, and reconciling conflicting data enable students to refine explanations across multiple investigations.
Thinking Moves act as cognitive tools. They give students ways to work productively with uncertainty, which is essential for meaningful release of responsibility.
Thinking Moves increase students’ intellectual independence
The ultimate goal of releasing responsibility is not participation. It is intellectual independence. Students who routinely use Thinking Moves begin to initiate them without prompting. This is a visible marker that responsibility has shifted.
Research from Project Zero emphasizes that classrooms become cultures of thinking when students, not teachers, drive the use of thinking practices (Ritchhart, 2015). In these environments, students monitor their own understanding and take responsibility for improving it.
What this looks like in KnowAtom lessons
- Students refer back to models or data to support claims without being asked
• Students challenge incomplete explanations respectfully
• Students revise their thinking publicly based on new evidence
• Students pose questions that shape the next phase of investigation
Kindergarten example
In Kindergarten Unit 1: Weather in Our World, students independently compare temperature data from sun and shade experiments. When students begin saying things like “Yesterday it was warmer in the sun too,” they are using Thinking Moves to track patterns over time without teacher direction.
Grades 1–2 example
In Grade 2 Unit 1: Matter All Around Us, students test how temperature affects bouncy balls. Intellectual independence appears when students suggest controlling variables or repeating tests to be sure of results.
Grades 3–5 example
In Grade 3 Unit 7: Magnetism and Electricity, students designing magnetic devices begin anticipating problems and proposing design revisions based on prior evidence. The teacher no longer needs to prompt evaluation or iteration.
Grades 6–8 example
In Grade 7 Unit 7: Changing Environments, students modeling food webs begin questioning the limits of their models and proposing scenarios that require revision. This reflects ownership of sensemaking.
When Thinking Moves are consistently reinforced, students no longer wait for teacher validation. They trust their capacity to think scientifically.
What changes for teachers when responsibility is released through Thinking Moves
Releasing responsibility does not mean teachers step away. It means their work shifts. Teachers move from being the primary source of answers to becoming designers of conditions where Thinking Moves are necessary, expected, and valued.
In these classrooms, rigor is preserved not by tighter control, but by clearer expectations for how thinking happens.
Key teacher moves include:
- Naming Thinking Moves when they naturally occur, helping students recognize the kind of thinking that moves learning forward
• Pressing for evidence rather than correctness, so ideas are evaluated based on support, not approval
• Allowing productive struggle without rescuing, trusting students to work through uncertainty
• Treating models, data, and the class’s collective thinking as authoritative sources, rather than positioning the teacher as the final arbiter of understanding
In practice, this often means giving questions back to the group instead of answering them. When a student asks, “Is this right?” the teacher redirects the responsibility: “What does our data suggest?” or “Who can help us test that idea?” The cognitive load stays with the learners.
Another important shift is how change itself is framed. Teachers explicitly treat revising one’s thinking as a strength. Changing an explanation in light of new evidence is not a mistake to correct, but a sign of disciplined scientific thinking.
This alignment prevents a common pitfall: releasing responsibility without providing cognitive tools. In KnowAtom classrooms, Thinking Moves ensure that students are equipped to carry the intellectual load they are asked to bear, together.
Why this connection matters for coherence and rigor
Thinking Moves are the mechanism that makes release of responsibility sustainable. Without them, responsibility drifts back to the teacher. With them, students develop habits of mind that transfer across units and grade levels.
This coherence supports the three-dimensional intent of the standards:
• Skills: students develop and use models, analyze data, and construct explanations
• Mindsets: students see themselves as capable thinkers
• Disciplinary toolsets: students engage in authentic scientific and engineering practices
Release of responsibility is not an endpoint. It is a developmental process supported by Thinking Moves that grow students into independent sensemakers.
References
- Ritchhart, R. (2015). Creating Cultures of Thinking. Jossey-Bass.
- Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass.