KWL charts include what students Know, what they Want to know, and what they Learned. Before reading, students activate prior knowledge by brainstorming what they know or think they know about the given topic, creating the K-column. Students then begin to think about what they want to learn or what they think they will learn about the topic, listing ideas in the W-column. After reading, students compare what they “knew’ to what they learned from reading. Corrections or adjustments are made to the K-column. Information is compared to what students wanted to learn or predicted to learn and new knowledge is added to the L-column, what we learned. KWL charts are good strategies to begin discussion of a new topic, to activate prior knowledge, and to present questions or to set a purpose for reading and learning.
Sonia Pearson