Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Fall, 2011

Poetry Portfolios: Using Poetry to Teach Reading

Poetry has always been interesting to me, and I feel that it is an area of literacy that is extremely useful, yet sometimes neglected. This lesson plan demonstrates a poetry model that can be implemented easily in K-2 classrooms, while supporting the skills and knowledge being taught in the classroom. One of the most attractive features of poetry is that it is relatively brief as compared to other forms of text, and if the right kinds of poems are chosen, poetry can be very entertaining to students. This poetry lesson incorporates teaching one poem per week to students, in daily 15-minute lessons.

During the first lesson, the poem is introduced to the students through a prediction task, encouraging students to think about the poem and what it might be about. After predictions are made, the teacher reads aloud the poem to the students, modeling inflection and phrasing. The second lesson focuses on the vocabulary in the poem. Students locate words in the poem that are unfamiliar to them, and the words are discussed as a class. The third lesson allows the teacher to focus on different skills that can be taught using the poem. The skills taught are dependent on the particular poem being read. For example, some poems might have several compound words in them, others might have beginning blends, or several words with the long /i/ sound. In the fourth lesson, the focus of the lesson is on the sentence structure of the poem. The poem is broken into phrases, and each phrase is written on a sentence strip. As the poem is reread, the students place their phrase into the correct order on a pocket chart. Finally, in the fifth lesson the students reread the poem and discuss comprehension questions as a class. The students are given the poem to keep in a poetry notebook

I thought this lesson could be very beneficial in a K-2 classroom. It seems that often there are small blocks of time during the school day (15-20 minutes in between two other scheduled activities) that can sometimes be difficult to plan for. It’s such a small amount of time that often a lesson might not be able to be completed. This time would be perfect to continually use a poetry lesson such as this. Overall, I thing the RWT website is amazing. I had looked at it briefly on a few occasions, but haven’t ever looked at it as in depth as I have now. It is definitely a fantastic tool for teachers.

MaryBeth Davenport

Daily Book Boosts
My favorite part of the day is to see and hear what students in my class are reading for enjoyment during SSR time. This lesson encompassed what I enjoy about SSR time and increasing the book talk in class. Each day at the end of their independent reading time, students give Book Boosts, one-minute raves about books they’ve read. Students select a book that they really enjoyed and then give a one-minute talk that generates interest in the book but does not give away the book’s ending. Students can boost their books in a variety of ways, including creating alternate book covers, designing posters or flyers, or making promotional bookmarks. Have students take turns giving book boosts with two students giving a Book Boost each class day. These Book Boosts are easy ways to suggest a multitude of titles to students, and they act as a way for students to have something to think about as they read.
Some materials the students can use are book review forms (provided on lesson plan site). The book review forms are kept in a notebook in the classroom for students to use as a reference. Creating a book cover on RWT website can also be a way for students to demonstrate the best part of the book. Bookmarks and flyers can also be advertised in the classroom to encourage the books.
The best part about this lesson is that it is one lesson that initially lasts 50 minutes. After that 2 students a day are selected to do 1 minute book boosts per day. I think this is manageable and will really increase interest and thinking skills. I want to go try Book Boosts in my class as soon as possible. (Becky)

I chose a lesson that centered on comics and graphic novels. Over the past couple of years I have witnessed firsthand how beneficial they can be to my struggling readers. I have also noticed how much my kids enjoy them. I have been looking for a way to spend more time using graphic novels in an instructional manner and not just for self-selected reading. I chose the lesson entitled, “Comics in the Classroom as an Introduction to Genre Study” because I felt it not only introduced comics/graphic novels to students, but it also taught students exactly how to read and understand the story being presented. The lesson, written by Lisa Storm Fink, explores the variety of comics/graphic novels that are available. The lesson also discusses the components of a comic strip and examines the conventions used in comics. The lesson is also broken into three, thirty minute sessions which works out nicely for my class.
The lesson begins with students brainstorming the different comics they are familiar with. Students also include a brief description of the comics. Next, the teacher passes out several different types of comics and comic books. Historical, political, illustrated classics, newspaper comic strips, superheroes, etc. In small groups, students explore the materials and make of list of the comics similarities and differences. Guiding questions to aid in this process are offered in the lesson. Once the lists are completed, the students organize the comics into different sub-genres. The next day, the teacher presents to the class information related to comics. This information is detailed in the lesson plan. With this new information, students observe the conventions, page layout, and page design of an example comic. Next, they analyze the professional comic’s use of conventions. The lesson then continues with a whole-class guided lesson on how to use Comic Creator to create an original comic. The new comic should emphasize the new information students have been taught. On the third day, students again use Comic Creator to create their own original comic strip.
This lesson was developed for third through fifth grade, but I think it could easily be adapted to work with my middle school students. I like the way she breaks the comics down into genres. I especially like how she provides information that will teach students all of the ins-and-outs of reading a comic/graphic novel. I’m not sure I would use the Comic Creator section of this lesson. My time is so limited, and I’m not sure how useful this would be to my students for this particular lesson. However, I would definitely consider using the Comic Creator as an alternative book report idea, or for students to demonstrate knowledge about a subject we were studying.

Sally F. Elliott

I chose a lesson called Gingerbread Phonics to review. I think that phonics is very important especially in kindergarten. Christmas is coming up pretty soon and this is one that I can use in my own classroom. In this lesson the teacher reads the story The Gingerbread Man aloud to students and invites them to read along during the refrain. The next day the teacher rereads the lesson and places sentence strips with the refrain writen on them up for the students. Students will practice reading the refrain and take turns finger pointing to it. On the third day the story is reviewed and students are asked to point out their favorite words. These words are writen on sentence strips and displayed. Special attention is given to the beginning sound of each word. After completing this activity along with a website about beginning sounds students will write their own stories using the new words they have found. These stories can be published on the internet and shared with each other.

I think this is a lesson I could use in my classroom. My kindergarten students are working on recognizing beginning sounds and this would be another way to do that. I am not sure how many of them could write their own stories using the new words, but we could write some sentences and write a story together as a class. I would also like to try this idea with other books. This lesson is easy to prepare for and appropriate for kindergarten students.

I found the Read Write Think website really early to use. I like that each lesson has a grade span and a quick overview. It makes it really easy to view a lot of lessons quickly. I also found it helpful that they list resources and national standards. I will use this website again to find new lesson ideas.
Ashley Montgomery

I reviewed A Genre Study of Letters with The Jolly Postman by Lisa Storm Fink. It is a three part lesson with each session lasting 45 minutes. I chose this lesson because distinguishing between genres is a skill that 3rd graders need as part of our curriculum. This lesson is designed for grades 3-5.
The lesson begins with some teacher directed questions about mail and characteristics of the different types of letters. The students use this information to create a class chart. The class then reads The Jolly Postman critically. As the book is read the teacher leads the class in a discussion of the different letters written to each of the fairy tale characters the postman is delivering to.
The second session begins with an examination of different types of mail; friendly letters, business letters, persuasive letters, greeting cards,etc. The class discusses the similarities and differences among them and the parts of the letters. The class is then suppose to create a chart of the characteristics of each type of mail on a chart that the author of the lesson has provided. The students are suppose to bring in mail from home as homework. An idea that may not be so feasible in today's climate of heightened personal security with the threat of identity theft.
For the third session the students are suppose to take the mail they have brought in, separate into small groups and classify their mail based on the chart the class made in the previous session. After the small groups have finished sorting and classifying the mail, the class comes back together and discusses their findings.
This lesson says it is designed for grades 3-5, but I actually see this lesson for younger grades. Though genres is a big part of 3rd grade, I don't see this lesson working well for any grades above that.

Nakita C. Carson

The lesson I chose to review from the RWT website is titled "Integrating Language Arts: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". I chose this lesson because I am very familiar with the author, Laura Numeroff, and the story. This story is great for teaching cause and effect and for inspiring some great stories.
This lesson is taught over 7 sessions and is designed to practice making predictions, sequence events in the story, explore cause and effect, provide peer presentations, and create personal cause and effect stories.
The sessions begin with a picture walk and predictions. Next, students practice recalling events by using cloze activity cards. Students also practice sequencing the events of the story with story cards. Sequencing is even further practiced as the students recall the story events to children in other classrooms. I really liked this idea. It never occurred to me to do this, but I can see how this would empower the students and they would feel a real sense of accomplishment and feel very knowledgeable as they recall events to students from another class.
After practicing sequence, students explore cause and effect with if... then... statements. For example, if you skip breakfast.... then you will be hungry. Students use their new knowledge of if... then sentences to create and illustrate their own stories.
The extensions to this lesson were great. They include an author study of Laura Numeroff, a story circle activity, and center and dramatic play ideas.
This lesson is a perfect way to teach cause and effect, sequecing and retelling to students. It makes these concepts both fun and simple.

Kelly Campbell

Using Songwriting to Build Awareness of Beginning Letter Sounds

This particular lesson really caught my eye for several different reasons. First of all, my class entered school this year with very weak phonemic awareness, overall. The majority of these students have had a difficult time learning letter names, and are only beginning to realize that the letters make different sounds. Now some are starting to realize what the beginning sound of a word is, and I think that these lessons provide an excellent opportunity for them to practice listening for beginning sounds and generating other words with the same initial sound. As a former music teacher, I think that the students are engaged by the use of music in the academic areas, and in my experience, applying the “Music Smart” area of multiple intelligences deepens their understanding of concepts. I was intrigued by the combination of phonemic awareness practice and music-making in this lesson!

This lesson begins with a familiar nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb. The children sing that song together, then they begin making changes to the words, using the beginning sound /b/. They sing about Bessie Bird, who lives in a barn and likes to eat bacon. As a part of Session 2, the children select different beginning sounds, think of an animal, a name, a place to live, and a food, all with the same initial sound, to create different verses. I think that this would be an enjoyable activity – I can envision the verses becoming sillier and sillier, but all within the same purpose – working with initial sounds. The third session involves illustrating the different verses. I particularly like this session because we talk often about the role of the illustrator, and I think this session highlights the importance of that role in texts. I would gather the different illustrated verses into a class songbook to go into our class library – I think that would be one of the most-read books in the library center! In fact, I think we’d possible want to have copies for each child to share at home.

I also liked the extension activities listed in this lesson. The “Sing a Song” website, http://www.kinderplanet.com/music.htm, offers opportunities for the children to listen for words with specified beginning sounds. Also, the “Picture Match” link, http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/picturematch/, and the “ABC Match” link, http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/abcmatch/, provide other chances for the students to practice working with beginning sounds. I have used those links in lessons in my class the last two weeks, and the students have responded positively to those activities.

Marlee Wright

Read Write Think is an amazing Website that gives you some awesome lessons that you could do with your children. The unfortunate things is we are an Imagine It School so we have to do what is dictated to us so we do not get the freedom that we would really like.
The lesson that I chose was “The Day Jimmy’s Boa Taught Cause and Effect”. Cause and Effect is a skill that my students have a harder time understanding so I think that this lesson would be a great lesson to try. This lesson is taught over 4 lessons, designed to do a lot of modeling, then slowly allowing the students to go onto their own to create their own cause and effect book.
In the first session after reading The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash the teacher will ask the students what happened and why each event happened. The teacher will then list some of the events of the story. The teacher will ask, “what caused these events?” and add these to the chart paper before the events. The teacher will then introduce cause and effect and explain what it is. The teacher will model how to draw a cause and effect picture and the students will pick any event and draw the cause and effect.
On Day 2 as a class, they will review the book and introduce Jimmy’s Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash. The teacher will read the story to the students, making sure that they can see the pictures. While reading book the teacher will ask students the cause of each book making sure you use the word cause. They will then review events using cause and effects. The students will complete a puzzle of events by having students illustrate before they put the puzzle together. Once the students finish as a class, they will figure out who has the cause and who has effect.
In session 3 the teacher will introduce Jimmy’s Boa Bounces Back. Teacher will read story ask about cause and effect. They will discuss whether events in story are real or make-believe. They will then review cause and effects and discuss in real-life examples. The teacher will list examples on the board and the students will complete a flow chart that shows the order in which things happen.
In session four the teacher will read Jimmy’s Boa and the Bungee Jump Slam Dunk. While reading the story the teacher will ask students the cause and effects. The teacher will explain that each book was about a girl coming home and explaining her game. The students will create a story to tell their parents or friends. The teacher and students will brainstorm a list of possible ideas on the board and begin their rough draft. On day 5, after looking over their rough drafts, the students will complete their rough draft and do their final draft of the book. The teacher will model how to write sentences explaining the pictures and then go back to add the illustrations.
This is a great lesson to do for teaching cause and effect. I loved how they used many stories from the same series and all of the stories had the same elements to them. I think that this lesson would work very well for my students. I would love to try this and I am anxious to know if they will be able to succeed in learning about cause and effect.

Natalie Enns

I reviewed the lesson, “Creating a Class Pattern Book With Popular Culture Characters.” This lesson utilizes the story, I Went Walking by Sue Williams. Dr. Deborah Kozdras designed the lesson to be completed in five sessions.
After reading the story, students discuss patterned text and practice replacing characters with ones of their choosing. They are given opportunities to orally repeat the pattern using classmates’ names, have a written example modeled, and then create a plan for their own page in a class digital book. I really like the idea of allowing students to bring this book to life by making it their own. As a class, they walk (just like in the story) to find a location for their character. Each child uses a pop culture figure or toy they choose to bring from home as their character. This is another great way of giving them ownership in this project and providing extra motivation. Pictures are taken and text for each is created orally by each child. Technology and shared writing are combined as the class collaborates in planning, sequencing, and writing their story. This would be a great lesson on my SmartBoard! Extensions for this lesson include, encouraging further use of patterned text in the writing center, starting a “take-home project” with a digital camera, and completing another digital class book. The story’s predictable patterned text and the use of pop culture characters is sure to spark creativity in any student.

Ruth Ann Timmons

The instructional strategy that I will choose to share in the Teacher's Lounge is a Dump and Clump strategy. I will ask the teachers what they already know about bats. They will draw and write what they know on a notecard. They will then dump them in the middle of a pile after sharing them with the class. The teachers will then decide how they can clump this information together into different categories. We will create categories and then put our index cards into the categories that we have decided on. After reading about bats later, we will add new information that we learned into our clump map. If we need to make a new category, we can do that as well.

By: Heather Fisher

I will be presenting Alphaboxes as my instructional strategy. Alphaboxes consist of boxes on a page and inside each box there is a letter of the alphabet. In each box, students list words or phrases that begin with the corresponding letter. The words or phrases they choose must be associated with their topic. This strategy and be used in a variety of ways. Students could use the Alphabox to record their prior knowledge, their new knowledge or a combination of both. Alphaboxes can help students work on choosing key words. This strategy can also be extended when students use their Alphabox as a reference to help them retell the story to a partner.

Stacy Durham

I will be presenting a strategy called Save the Last Word for Me. This is a strategy that requires students to think deeply about statements in a text. The strategy begins with students reading the text and writing down five statements from the text on five separate index cards. On the back of each card students must record their response to the statement. After filling out the index cards students form small groups for discussion. The discussion portion of this strategy is unique because it gives students an opportunity to reflect on what they read and to hear peer’s views before offering their won response to the statements in the text. The discussion begins with a student reading one of his/her statements. Then the other students in the class must discuss the statement while the student who presented the statement must wait until the end of the discussion to read his/her comments. This allows the student to have the “last word” on the topic.
-Kelly Campbell

I will be presenting Power Thinking. This is a really easy way to introduce outlining to students. It also teaches them to chunk information in an organized way. There are three tiers to power thinking; power one is the topic/main idea, power two are the subtopics, and power three are the details that support each power two. For example:

Power One : TV Shows

Power Two: Comedies

Power Three: - Big Bang Theory
- The New Girl
- Two and a Half Men
- Mike and Molly

This is also a good way to get students to focus on headings and subheadings, so that they begin to see how informational text is organized and how they can use this to help them make sense of the information being presented.

I will share about Double Entry Diaries. In Double Entry Diaries, students take quotes, sentences, and words that they do not understand or find interesting and write them in the left column. In the right column, students write their inferences, opinions, questions, etc. about the quote. Students work on the diary as they are reading the assigned text. The strategy ensures that students dig deeper into the text and do not just skip over words and passages they do not understand. Double Entry Diaries are usually completed individually, but after students are finished they can share their entries in small groups.

Here are a few examples:

Quote Reaction (How you feel about the quote)
Quote Connection (Self, Text, World)
Quote/Picture Inference (What you think it means)
Sentence Example of Figurative Language

Whitney Fisher

I am going to share the think-pair-share strategy. I think that this strategy works well for any grade level. I have used it in my kindergarten classroom a few times and I am always surprised at how well they do. The teacher pairs the students up or asks them to select a partner. While reading a selection of text the teacher stops and asks a question. First students are to think about the answere themselves and then share their thinking with their partners. After they have had time to share partners are asked to share their thoughts with the whole group. I always try to listen closly to conversatons going on around the room so that I can point out great thoughts for those who are not comfretable sharing themselves. This strategy can be used with fiction or nonfiction text.

Ashley Montgomery

I will share the Exit Slip Strategy. This strategy is closely related to the Quick Write Strategy. It helps with summarizing and personal reflection. Students jot down thoughts, questions, confusions, or key ideas on index cards or small slips of paper. These are collected on the way out of the classroom as students leave the room. Exit Slips are for the last few minutes of class to ask students to synthesize when ideas are fresh. Prompts may be given to encourage revisiting their learning.
Here are some possible prompts:
Write one significant thing you learned today on the front of the index card and one questions you have about the material on the back.
If you shared one thing you learned in our class today, what would it be and why does it strike you as that important?
Write one: "I didn't know that... " on the card and briefly describe what it is.
Write one thing in particular about today's readings or lesson that you think might be confusing to a lot of people (even yourself) and comment on what might make it confusing.
Select a quote from your reading that you feel is worthy of some discussion and, on the back of the card, briefly mention why.

Becky Lockwood

I will be introducing Speech bubbles/Thought bubbles. Speech bubbles students use to identify a characters speech within a text. Speech bubbles help students to identify the implied meanings from what the characters are saying in the story. Student’s identify a character’s quote from the story and write the quote in the speech bubble. Students then visusalize what they think the characters means. They then make an inference and draw/write it in the thought bubble to imply the meaning behind what the character said.
Kara Scott

In the teachers lounge, I will be introducing a "Two Minute Talk" strategy. During two minute talks, students will share with a partner by brainstorming everything they already know about a skill, topic, or concept. In doing so, they are establishing a foundation of knowledge in preparation for learning new information about the skill, topic, or concept. Students will be grouped into pairs in which they will each be talking a a specific topic for two minutes. Students will choose which one talks first, then after two minutes the other student will do the talking. Using a timer, allow student #1 to talk. Then tell them switch when time is up. Allow student #2 to talk until time is up. Student #2 is allowed to repeat some of the same concepts and/or ideas about the topic; however, it is always encouraged to try and think of new information to share. Once this activity is over and both students have had a chance to talk to one another, the class will do a whole group discussion about what they learned or talked about with their partner.
-Ashley Joyce

LINK stands for List, Inquire, Note, and Know. It is a great strategy because it gets all the children in class involved. It is used to support student discussion on a particular topic and therefore activate their prior knowledge. It begins by the teacher choosing a topic or keyword and then allowing 2-3 minutes of brainstorming. The teacher writes student responses around that word, making sure to get a response from each student in the room. It is probably best to start with the shy students. The next step is to have students respond to each other, expanding their own knowledge by inquiring and questioning one another. The teacher helps students do this in a respectful way. Then students write or take note of the new information they learned from inquiry and discussion. Finally, they read a selection on the topic and discuss their learning.
Ruth Ann Timmons

Probable passage is an instructional strategy that would be effective in upper elementary classrooms and beyond. It is generally considered a pre-reading activity that will expose students to vocabulary and help students make predictions about the story. Important words and/or phrases are selected from the story by the teacher and are displayed in a random order for students to see. The words should represent different elements of the story, such as characters or setting. The students work in small groups to sort these words and phrases into the different story elements, and finally make a prediction about the story. After each group shares their predictions, the story is read and finally the predictions are compared with the actual text. This strategy is flexible, in that it can be used in both a small group (guided reading) or a large group format. It allow students to use their prior knowledge along with the important words and phrases to spark interest in what they are about to read and will help them in making predictions about what might possibly happen in the story.

MaryBeth Davenport

I was intrigued by the Point of View Strategy, presented in Diane Lapp’s column for the International Reading Association. This strategy can be easily used in Reading/Language Arts classes, but it can also be effective in other content areas as well. With this strategy the students delve deeply into texts – both fictional and nonfictional – to the point that they can portray or assume a new perspective. Lapp said that the student should “acquire deep insights allowing them to view life as ‘the very hungry caterpillar,’ ‘the rainbow fish,’ or even America’s first president. However, in order to accurately portray such a character, the students have to think about how that character would feel, what events would look like to that character, what that character would think.

I first heard about creating concept maps years ago, but never knew anything about it. I saw it as a strategy on readingrockets.org. I put my own touch to it when I use it in my classroom. I usually have my students do characteristics of the concept, examples of the concept, words connected to the concept. This leads us to our final area on the concept map, a student created definition.This strategy works in all curriculum areas. The thing I most like about concept mapping is that it allows the students to create their own examples and add their own ideas to the new concept we are discussing.

The strategy that I will talk about is Think/Pair/Share. Think pair share is a great strategy for younger students. it allows each child a chance to talk and it really allows them a chance to learn from their peers. There are many times when you are asking a question and everybody in your classroom wants to share something, I use this then. Instead of allowing each child a chance to talk one a time it allows them all a chance to talk about what is being asked. The students really enjoy this because it gives the students a chance to be the teacher. There are many times when a child does not know what is going on and what is being asked, so the other person in the pair can teach them about the subject. I find that my students do really well learning from other and they seem to grasp more that way.

Natalie Enns

The strategy that I will be discussing in class is Illustrating stories. This is a common strategy that is often times used by primary teachers. This strategy allows students to illustrate a particular event or sections in a story. When using this strategy students can improve their comprehension and interpretation of the selection. Often time’s students will use their own personal understandings and responses when they visually depict the story’s characters, settings, events and objects.

Rachel Hicks

I use K-W-L very often in my classes. It is always interesting to have the students brainstorm what they know about a subject before we discuss and research it. (K) After doing that, we then try to brainstorm what we would like to know about the subject. (W) Sometimes it is best to share our "want to know" thoughts because the students at times get lazy and do not want to know anything else about the subject OR think they are already the expert about the it. After discussing together what we want to know-we then research and try to find out the answers to our questions. ("L") We record this in what we have "learned." This is a very helpful tool in getting the children to think deeper about topics. There are always things we can learn about any subject-even if we think we know all about it. Maybe we need to look at another perspective to find a "what I want to know." Everyone ALWAYS learns something new using this strategy!!
Sarah Patten

This instructional strategy is an excellent way for students to create visual images of the text they are listening to. Students learn how to create meaning from the words they hear and develop an illustration that matches their interpretation of the text. This is a great way for students to actively read or listen to poetry because of the descriptive and figurative language used in poetry. Students are more engaged in the text because they are focused on creating the image. It is a relaxing and fun way to enjoy reading!

Michelle Carlson

I use K-W-L very often in my classes. It is always interesting to have the students brainstorm what they know about a subject before we discuss and research it. (K) After doing that, we then try to brainstorm what we would like to know about the subject. (W) Sometimes it is best to share our "want to know" thoughts because the students at times get lazy and do not want to know anything else about the subject OR think they are already the expert about the it. After discussing together what we want to know-we then research and try to find out the answers to our questions. We record this in what we have "learned." ("L") This is a very helpful tool in getting the children to think deeper about topics. There are always things we can learn about any subject-even if we think we know all about it. Maybe we need to look at another perspective to find a "what I want to know." Everyone ALWAYS learns something new using this strategy!!
Sarah Patten

Alphabet Brainstorming involves students working in groups to brainstorm terms related to a topic that they are going to be studying. Each group is given a sheet and the topic, and they are to try and come up with terms related to that topic that start with different letters of the alphabet. At the end of the given time period, groups share their answers and compare with other groups.
This strategy would be a nice change up to the usual “What do you know about...?” question that we usually ask our students before introducing a topic. Instead of simply asking and having a few students telling, using the Alphabet Brainstorming, students could work together to inform each other and share what they already know. If they have a goal of trying to fill in as many boxes as they can, they might have extra motivation as well. Misconceptions about the new topic can also be addressed right away during this time. This also gives students some responsibility and control over their learning. Before starting a unit on responsibility, I will ask them to fill out an Alphabet Brainstorming chart about ideas related to the topic of responsibility to see what they already know about the term.
Kim Strzelecki

K-W-L (Know-Want to Know-Learn)

I use K-W-L very often in my classes. It is always interesting to have the students brainstorm what they know about a subject before we discuss and research it. (K) After doing that, we then try to brainstorm what we would like to know about the subject. (W) Sometimes it is best to share our "want to know" thoughts because the students at times get lazy and do not want to know anything else about the subject OR think they are already the expert about the it. After discussing together what we want to know-we then research and try to find out the answers to our questions. We record this in what we have "learned." ("L") This is a very helpful tool in getting the children to think deeper about topics. There are always things we can learn about any subject-even if we think we know all about it. Maybe we need to look at another perspective to find a "what I want to know." Everyone ALWAYS learns something new using this strategy!!
Sarah Patten