WhatIsKWL?.

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?

HowDoesItWork?
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?

CommonIssueswithKWL

"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.

KWL reading method

KWL is a reading strategy formed from its letters:

Reading and research series

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

Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review!

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! Expand this exercise beyond K W L: Add an H! Stands for HOW you can learn more. Pose new questions about the topic How can I learn more or answer questions not answered in my worksheet These include other sources of information, including: organizations, experts, tutors, websites, librarians, etc.

5 W's and an H

Another reading strategy is to answer the questions that form the basis of good journalism: Who What When Where Why and How
Who are the main characters? What does the author say happened? Where did the action occur? When did it happen or what is the span of time? Why did this happen? How did it happen? I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west; But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest. Kipling, Rudyard. (1902). "The Elephant's Child." In The Kipling Society. Retrieved August 14, 2007, from http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_serving.htm. Reading and research series
Reading critically | Prereading strategies | SQ3R reading method | KWL reading method | Marking & underlining | Reading difficult material |Interpretive reading | Reading essays | Reading fiction | Narrator/character types | Speed and comprehension | Researching on the Internet | Evaluating websites | Organizing research: computers | Organizing research: note cards

Ogle, D.M. (1986, February). K-W-L: A Teaching Model That Develops Active Reading of Expository Text. The Reading Teacher, 39(6), 564570. doi: 10.1598/RT.39.6.11Mooney, Margaret. (October 1990). "Reading To, With, and By Children." Richard C. Owen Pubs., Inc. SBN: 0913461180 ISBN-13:9780913461181 Suggests adding a fifth column, H, for How to learn more.Huffman, L. E. (1998). Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 41(6), 470-472. Combine focus questions (5 W and 1 H) with K-W-L. 1996. http://www.studygs.net/texred3.htm

Reading and research series

SQ3R reading method

SQ3R is a reading strategy formed from its letters: Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review! SQ3R will help you build a framework to understand your reading assignment. Before you read, Survey the chapter:
the title, headings, and subheadings captions under pictures, charts, graphs or maps review questions or teacher-made study guides introductory and concluding paragraphs summary Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questions Read questions at the end of the chapters or after each subheading Ask yourself, "What did my instructor say about this chapter or subject when it was assigned?" Ask yourself, "What do I already know about this subject?" Note: If it is helpful to you, write out these questions for consideration. This variation is called SQW3R Look for answers to the questions you first raised Answer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guides Reread captions under pictures, graphs, etc. Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases Study graphic aids Reduce your speed for difficult passages Stop and reread parts which are not clear Read only a section at a time and recite after each section Orally ask yourself questions about what you have just read, or summarize, in your own words, what you read Take notes from the text but write the information in your own words Underline or highlight important points you've just read Reciting: The more senses you use the more likely you are to remember what you read Triple strength learning: Seeing, saying, hearing Quadruple strength learning: Seeing , saying , hearing, writing!!!

Question while you are surveying:

When you begin to Read:

Recite after you've read a section:

Review: an ongoing process Day One

After you have read and recited the entire chapter, write questions in the margins for those points you have highlighted or underlined. If you took notes while reciting, write questions for the notes you have taken in the left hand margins of your notebook. Complete the form for a critical reading review Page through the text and/or your notebook to re-acquaint yourself with the important points.

Day Two

Cover the right hand column of your text/note-book and orally ask yourself the questions in the left hand margins. Orally recite or write the answers from memory. Develop mnemonic devices for material which need to be memorized. Make flash cards for those questions which give you difficulty. Alternate between your flash cards and notes and test yourself (orally or in writing) on the questions you formulated. Make additional flash cards if necessary. Using the text and notebook, make a Table of Contents - list all the topics and sub-topics you need to know from the chapter. From the Table of Contents, make a Study Sheet/ Spatial Map. Recite the information orally and in your own words as you put the Study Sheet/Map together. As you have consolidated all the information you need for this chapter, periodically review the Sheet/Map so that at test time you will not have to cram.

Days Three, Four and Five

Weekend

SQ3R
Increasing Your Retention of Written Information

There are better ways to retain information! iStockphoto/Cimmerian

SQ3R is a useful technique for fully absorbing written information. It helps you to create a good mental framework of a subject, into which you can fit facts correctly. It helps you to set study goals. It also prompts you to use the review techniques that will help to fix information in your mind. By using SQ3R to actively read a document, you can get the maximum benefit from your reading time. The acronym SQ3R stands for the five sequential techniques you should use to read a book:

Survey
Survey the document: scan the contents, introduction, chapter introductions and chapter summaries to pick up a shallow overview of the text. Form an opinion of whether it will be of any help. If it does not give you the information you want, discard it.

Question Read

Make a note of any questions on the subject that come to mind, or particularly interest you following your survey. Perhaps scan the document again to see if any stand out. These questions can be considered almost as study goals understanding the answers can help you to structure the information in your own mind. Now read the document. Read through useful sections in detail, taking care to understand all the points that are relevant. In the case of some texts this reading may be very slow. This will particularly be the case if there is a lot of dense and complicated information. While you are reading, it can help to take notes in Mind Map format.

Recall
Once you have read appropriate sections of the document, run through it in your mind several times. Isolate the core facts or the essential processes behind the subject, and then see how other information fits around them.

Review
Once you have run through the exercise of recalling the information, you can move on to the stage of reviewing it. This review can be by reading the document again, by expanding your notes, or by discussing the material with colleagues. A particularly effective method of reviewing information is to have to teach it to someone else.

Key Points

SQ3R is a useful technique for extracting the maximum amount of benefit from your reading time. It helps you to organize the structure of a subject in your mind. It also helps you to set study goals and to separate important information from irrelevant data. SQ3R is a 5 stage active reading technique. The stages are: Survey Question Read Recall Review

If you use SQ3R, you will significantly improve the quality of your study time.

SURVEY THE CHAPTER Do not read the chapter yet! Do these steps first:
1. Read the title - prepare your mind to study the subject. 2. Read the introduction and/or summary - think about how this chapter fits the author's purposes, and focus on the author's statement of most important points.

3. Quickly look over each boldface heading and subheading - organize your mind before you begin to read - build a structure for the thoughts and details to come.
4. Look over any graphics, charts, maps, diagrams, etc. They are there to make a point don't miss them.

5. Notice the reading aids - italics, and boldface print show that something is important 6. Also, the chapter objective and the end-of-chapter questions are all included to help you sort, understand and remember the information. QUESTION Do not read the chapter yet! Do these steps first:
Create questions from your reading to help your mind think about the material. Look at each section at a time and turn the boldface headings into as many questions as you think will be answered in that section. The better the questions, the better your understanding will be. You may always add more questions as you continue. When your mind is actively searching for answers to questions, it is learning! This is also the best way to predict test questions where do you think your teachers think up questions?! Here's an example: if a heading says "Parts of the Flower," you can make a question like: "What are the parts of a flower?" "Historic People" can be a question like "Name some historic people." Make up as many questions as you possibly can.

READ Ok, now it is time to read the chapter, but follow these steps:
As you read, look for the answers to the questions you wrote, and write the answers in your notes!

Read each section of the chapter with your questions in mind. Look for the answers, and take note of questions you didn't think of that were answered in that section.

RECITE As you read the chapter, you should recite your notes.
Reciting means practicing out loud what youve written down. Yes, that's right - talk to yourself! After each section of reading, stop, think about your questions, and see if you can answer them from memory. If not, look back again (as often as necessary) but don't go on to the next section until you can say what you have learned!

REVIEW Spend 15 minutes every day reviewing your notes.

Once you've finished the entire chapter using the steps above, go back over all the questions that you made. See if you can still answer them. If you cannot, read the chapter again, being careful to answer your own questions.