What Is K-W-L?.

K-W-L is the creation of Donna Ogle and is a 3-column chart that helps capture the Before, During, and After components of reading a text selection. K stands for Know This is the prior knowledge activation question. W stands for Will or Want What do I think I will learn about this topic? What do I want to know about this topic? L stands for Learned What have I learned about this topic?

How Does It Work?

1. On the chalkboard, on an overhead, on a handout, or on students' individual clean sheets, three columns should be drawn. 2. Label Column 1 K, Column 2 W, Column 3 L. 3. Before reading (or viewing or listening), students fill in the Know column with words, terms, or phrases from their background or prior knowledge. If you are having them draw on a topic previously learned, then the K column may be topic-related. But if the topic is something brand-new, and they don't know anything (or much) about it, you should use the K column to have them bringing to mind a similar, analogous, or broader idea. 4. Then have students predict what they might learn about the topic, which might follow a quick glance at the topic headings, pictures, and charts that are found in the reading. This helps set their purpose for reading and focuses their attention on key ideas. 5. Alternatively, you might have students put in the middle column what they want to learn about the topic. 6. After reading, students should fill in their new knowledge gained from reading the content. They can also clear up misperceptions about the topic which might have shown up in the Know column before they actually read anything. This is the stage of metacognition: did they get it or not?

Common Issues with K-W-L

"My students don't have background knowledge! The reason to do the K column of the K-W-L is to have students bring to mind something they already know, as a hook to which new information can be attached. Some people who use KW-L complain that their students either don't know anything or what they know is wrong. That's a great sign that the students have been asked not about what they know, but about what they don't know. Please "know" this: ALL students have background or prior knowledge. As teachers, we have to know our content well enough that we know how it's like something that would be familiar to our students. That should determine what we ask in the K column. It may OR MAY NOT be the topic. "I ask what they want to know, and they think of a zillion things!" Especially with younger elementary children, they'll suggest all kinds of questions for what they want to know. And with older kids, maybe they say, "Nothing!" That's why I like Pat Widdowson's suggestion: Use the W to ask what they think they WILL learn. Then, it's predictive, which is what good readers are anyway.

http://www.readingquest.org/strat/kwl.html. 23 Sep 2007. Raymond Jones.

Reading and research series

KWL reading method

KWL is a reading strategy formed from its letters:

Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review!

KWL is intended to be an exercise for a study group or class that can guide you in reading and understanding a text. You can adapt it to working alone, but discussions definitely help. It is composed of only three stages that reflect a worksheet of three columns with the three letters: What we Know what we Want to know what we Learned

K stands for Know This first stage may surprise you: Think first about, then list, what you know about the topic before reading! This advanced organizer provides you with a background to the new material, building a scaffold to support it. Think of it as a pre-reading inventory. Brainstorm! Before looking at the text, think of keywords, terms, or phrases about the topic, either in your class or a study group. Record these in the K column of your chart until you cannot think of more. Engage your group in a discussion about what you wrote in the K column. Organize the entries into general categories. W stands for Will or Want The second stage is to list a series of questions of what you want to know more of the subject, based upon what you listed in K. Preview the texts table of contents, headings, pictures, charts etc. Discuss what you want to learn List some thoughts on what you want, or expect to learn, generally or specifically. Think in terms of what you will learn, or what do you want to learn about this. Turn all sentences into questions before writing them down. They will help you focus your attention during reading. List the questions by importance. L stands for Learned The final stage is to answer your questions, as well as to list what new information you have learned. Either while reading or after you have finished.

List out what you learn as you read, either by section, or after the whole work, whichever is comfortable for you. Check it against the W column, what you wanted to learn Create symbols to indicate main ideas, surprising ideas, questionable ideas, and those you dont understand!