K-W-L Charts

Maggie Demarse

Brief Description of the Strategy K-W-L is an instructional strategy for aiding students in

establishing a framework and encourages students to construct meaning from text

The basic instructional activity consists of three parts. 1) Students identify what is KNOWN 2) What they WANT to know 3) And what they have LEARNED Allows students to take inventory of what they already know

and what they want to know Students can categorize information about the topic that they

expect to use

Benefits of the Strategy

Helps generate and organize their background knowledge Helps set the purpose for reading and focuses attention on

key ideas Helps clear up misperceptions about the topic

When is it Implemented?

A K-W-L Chart should be used before, during, and after research projects

How would you implement this in your classroom? What would it look like? On the chalkboard, on an overhead, on a handout, or on

students' individual sheets Before reading, students fill in the “know” column with

everything they already know about the topic Then students predict what they might learn about the

topic in the “learn” column. It is a good idea to look at the topic headings, pictures, and charts that are found in the reading for this column

After reading, students fill in their knowledge gained from the reading

How would this benefit ELLs? How would you modify it?

For students ELL students the chart can be completed in the first language or with illustrations

Variations of the K-W-L Chart The K-W-L chart can be modified to include a fourth

column at the end, “W” which stands for "Further Wanderings." This column is for students to propose new questions they have as a result researching the topic

A fifth column can be added as well, “H”, (K-W-H-L-W) for "How" the students intend to gather the information once they've determined what they need to learn

K-W-L-PLUS and B-K-W-L-Q are variations of this instructional activity

Variations of the Chart: K-W-H-L K-W-H-L Chart:

access prior information on a topic or theme identify primary and secondary resources to access develop a plan for accessing resources identify attributes and characteristics to research.

So it should answer the questions: What do we already know? What do we want to find out? How are we going to find out? What resources can we access? What attributes or characteristic should we focus on?

Variations of the Chart: K-W-L-PLUS After completing a K-W-L chart, students go back to their

charts and make changes in their “K” column. This can be done as a group or individually. They can indicate with plus and minus signs information verified in the text (+) and incorrect information from their prior knowledge (-)

Once this is completed students can develop a concept map or graphic organizer integrating the information from the text and their charts

Using the concept map or graphic organizer the students can write a summary of the text

Variations of the Chart: B-K-W-L-Q B-K-W-L-Q follows the same general steps as the K-W-L

chart except two steps are added. “B” is for building background knowledge. “Q” is for new questions after the initial reading and prior to further reading

With this chart an smaller additional text that is related to the topic for study is used. This provides students with some background knowledge related to the topic. In the “B” column students describe or draw something about the topic from the smaller reading

Students list new questions in the “Q” column they have about the topic after the reading the smaller excerpt of related text and prior to reading the required text.

Links to Internet Resources

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/chart-a-30226.html (lesson plans)

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/kwl http://www.u-46.org/dbs/roadmap/files/comprehension/4KWL.pdf http://www.graphic.org/kwhl.html (example of K-W-H-L chart) http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/722 (ELL) http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/tannen01.html (ELL) http://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/post/2010/08/23/Reading-Strategies-that-Work-for-Strug

gling-Readers-KWL-Charts.aspx http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/KWLCharts.html

Works Cited "K-W-L Chart." Readwritethink.org. IRA/NCTE, 2012. Web. 07 July 2012.

<http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/chart-a-30226.html>. "KWL Charts." KWL Charts. West Virginia Department of Education, 2012. Web. 07 July

2012. <http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/KWLCharts.html>. Bomengen, Monica. "Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers: KWL Charts." Reading

Strategies for Struggling Readers: KWL Charts. BlogEngine.NET, 23 Aug. 2010. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/post/2010/08/23/Reading-Strategies-that-Work-for-Struggling-Readers-KWL-Charts.aspx>.

"What Is K-W-L?" Instructional Strategies Online. Saskatoon Public Schools, 2009. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/kwl/>.

"KWHL Chart." KWHL Chart. Graphic.org, n.d. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://www.graphic.org/kwhl.html>.

"356.chetcuti: KWL Charts." 356.chetcuti: KWL Charts. University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.chetcuti/kwl_charts>.

Jayne, Laura. "Differentiation for All." K-W-L. Blogger, n.d. Web. 07 July 2012. <http://differentiationforall.blogspot.com/p/fqr-factsquestionsresponse-think-sheets.html>.