Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Spring, 2011

K-W-L Plus
This strategy takes the traditional KWL chart one step further by having students take what they listed in the 1st & 3rd columns (Know & What I Learned) and has them put their ideas into categories. I often use KWL charts in my classroom when learning something new in science or social studies, but had not had my students group the first & last columns into categoreis. To use this strategy first choose a topic. Then, have students list what they know about the topic in the Know (K) column. Next, have them think of a few questions they would like answered about the topic and have them list these in the Want to Know (W) column. Last, read or have them read the selection about the topic and then have them list the things they learned in the What I Learned (L) column. Then have them group the things in the Know column & Learned column into categories.You may choose to discuss the chart at the end and have students share what they learned. This strategy can be done as a class, with a partner, or individually. It should always be modeled first if this is new to students.

When I used this strategy with my students, I gave them copies of the KWL chart and had them complete theirs as I wrote on a KWL transparency on the overhead. I had them tell me what they knew about the ocean and we listed the animals and other things they knew in the Know column. Then, I had them think of 3 questions they would like answered about the ocean and we listed those in the Want to Know column. Next, I read a nonfiction book about ocean life called, Sea Critters, by Sylvia Earle aloud and had them listen for animal facts and to see whether or not the 3 questions would be answered. After reading this, they came up with two other facts they wanted to list, but we did not find the answers to our questions in the book. We ended up looking them up on the internet and we listed them in the Learned column. Last, we grouped the information listed in the Know column and Learned column into the following categories: ocean animals that swim, ocean animals that do not swim, plants, & traits of the ocean and completed a concept map together.

Brainstorming-LINK
The 3rd Strategy I used with my students is a brainstorming activity that I found works well as a prewriting activity. It is called LINK. This is what you do. You begin by writing a keyword or concept on the board or overhead and tell students you are giving them 3 minutes to list on a sheet of paper all of the things they can think of that relate to this word. Then, you have each student give 1 word from their list and write it somewhere around the keyword. Continue this until all students have given 1 word. Don't make any comments though during this time. Next, allow them to discuss and prove/disprove anything listed on the board. Make changes if necessary. Then, have them flip their papers over and write about the topic/keyword and discuss when finished.
I used this strategy with my class and put the word "bee' on the board and gave them 3 minutes to list as many words as they could about bees on a sheet of paper. Then, I wrote a repsonse from each student around the word "bee" on the board. The hardest part for me was trying not to make any comments, even when I knew a response was wrong. Next, I had students discuss what was listed on the board and asked them to find anything that seemed strange or unclear. One student had said "bears." This struck me as odd at first, but then I realized that he was making the connection between bees and honey, which bears like. So, I let him explain to the class, and that was what he meant. We left this on the board. Another example that was questioned was this response "four legs". We discussed how many legs bees really have and they came up with 6 legs, because they are insects. We changed this response. I was really surprised at how much they actually learned by closely examining each other's ideas and responses. The last thing I had my students do with this strategy was to turn their papers over and think about what they had learned and then write a short paragraph about bees.