Using K-W-L

When working with groups of different abilities, the teacher needs to clearly outline expectations and goals. The K-W-L strategy works well in this context, and is best suited to students in grades 3 and above. It can be used to engage students in research on a specific topic and track information gathered along the way. This strategy will help students confirm what they know about a topic and encourage them to think about how they want to focus their learning. The following steps should be used when implementing this strategy:

  1. Identify what students think they know about the topic. Students are encouraged to think broadly about what they bring to the study. Together, the teacher and students brainstorm ideas and the teacher records them on a K-W-L chart or overhead. (Students may have individual strategy sheets.)
  2. Anticipate the organization and structure of ideas that the authors might use in the text selection. Students reflect about the ideas they have suggested to the teacher, and they are asked to think about the ways the authors might arrange this information. “What categories do you think that the author will use to present the information?” “What might they include in their table of contents?” These ideas are recorded under the heading, Categories of Information that Might be Included.
  3. Generate a list of student questions. After sharing their ideas, the teacher asks the students what they want to know about the topic. Some students may have difficulty generating their own questions, so the teacher may need to model a few questions at the beginning. The questions are written in the W column.
  4. Read the text selection to answer questions. As they read, students write answers to their questions. They may also include new ideas or notes about the information in the L column of their strategy sheets.
  5. Engage students in follow-up activities to clarify and extend learning. Some students may not remember much of the new information they have encountered, so additional tools such as semantic maps, graphic organizers of key information, and individual summaries might be necessary (Blachowicz & Ogle, 2001).

Assignment:

resourceClick on the resource link to download and complete the Using K-W-L assignment.

This worksheet provides an example of how the K-W-L strategy can be used in a science class. The worksheet walks you through the various steps of gathering and adding information to the chart, and using it to support students in assessing their own learning. Using the worksheet as an example, create your own K-W-L strategy to improve reading comprehension. Choose any grade level you prefer. Create a document in MS Word format (.doc or .docx) and describe how you will introduce the K-W-L process to students and involve them in its use (e.g., assign a note taker, have each student fill out their own chart, etc.). Select a reading appropriate to the grade level you have chosen and create a K-W-L chart to use with it. Itemize a few things from the reading you expect students will already know, and what you expect they will want to know. Explain how you would modify this strategy for students working below grade level in the classroom (e.g., break chapters into subsections), while maintaining the same learning objectives for all students. Use the tool provided below to upload a copy of your completed work.