KWL

Strategic Lesson Planning for Teaching Reading

Strategic teaching using the K-W-L technique activates students' prior knowledge, which is important for engaging them during the stages of teaching reading.

students from the beginning of a reading lesson by activating prior knowledge. The K-W-L technique also helps teachers keep students interested as they think about what they want to know and what they have learned. If you’re a new teacher and you’d like to avoid behavior problems right from the start, take control of your classroom with reading activities and strategies that engage students right away.

With that said, how can new teachers use the K-W-L technique effectively all throughout the lesson? First, teachers need to create a K-W-L chart to help guide the students. This can be done on a large chart or on the chalkboard. Very simply, just divide the space into three columns and label them "Know", "Want to Know", "Learned". Use each space to record students' thoughts as they work through the K-W-L process described below.

Activate Prior Knowledge

As a reading strategy, the K-W-L technique consists of three main parts. The first part or, "what students know" can be represented by a ten minute (maximum) brainstorming about a particular subject connected with the reading text. As students brainstorm, record their ideas under the "Know" column of the chart.

Brainstorming is a great way to begin a reading lesson because it engages all students including the more silent ones who may not be talking, but are in fact listening to their peers. Other great beginnings include:

• prediction exercises
• anticipation guides

Beginnings set the stage for the main part of the lesson which should be an engaging middle.

What Students Want To Know

Once students get in touch with the knowledge they already have before reading the text by brainstorming what they know about the subject, it’s time for an engaging middle to your lesson. The second part of the "K-W-L" formula is the what do students want to find out prior to reading the text.

Read on 

• Teaching Prediction in Picture Books and Non-Fiction Texts
• Successful Strategic Teaching Techniques
• Middle School Content Area Reading Strategies

Having students write a list of questions in the "W" part of the "K-W-L" chart before they start to read the text is the most effective way to do this. As they begin to read, they will confirm or verify any of their questions. Hopefully, they will find the answers to some of their questions as they read the text. They can take notes of any new information they acquire as they read that is directly or indirectly related to their questions.

What Students Have Learned

The last ten minutes of the lesson should help the students become aware of what they have just learned as they reflect on their reading in a fun and engaging way. Students can do this by answering the following questions:

• Name one or two surprising or interesting facts or ideas that you didn't know before.
• Name one or two new vocabulary words students learned.
• Write a question you would like to ask the writer?

Record students' answers to these and other questions in the "Learned" column of the chart. Alternatively, students can also give a short presentation of what they have just learned.

The K-W-L technique focuses on activating prior knowledge and confirming what students have learned during the reading lesson. If you are able to effectively engage your students using strategic reading, they will be much more active in your lessons and as a result, fewer discipline problems will occur.

http://www.suite101.com/content/strategic-lesson-planning-for-teaching-reading-a60272

KWL is intended to be an exercise for a study group or class

that can guide you in reading and understanding a text.

You can adapt it to working alone, but discussions definitely help.

It is composed of only three stages that reflect a worksheet of three columns with the three letters

What we

Know

what we Want to know

and what we Learned

K stands for Know

This first stage may surprise you:

Think first about, then list, what you know about the topic.

This advanced organizer provides you with a background to the new material, building a scaffold to support it.

Think of it as a pre-reading inventory.

• Brainstorm!
  Before looking at the text, think of keywords, terms, or phrases about the topic, either in your class or a study group.
• Record these in the K column of your chart until you cannot think of more.
• Engage your group in a discussion about what you wrote in the K column.
• Organize the entries into general categories.

W stands for Will or Want The second stage is to list a series of questions of what you want to know more of the subject, based upon what you listed in K.

• Preview the text’s table of contents, headings, pictures, charts etc.
  Discuss what you want to learn
• List some thoughts on what you want, or expect to learn, generally or specifically.
  Think in terms of what you will learn, or what do you want to learn about this.
• Turn all sentences into questions before writing them down.
  They will help you focus your attention during reading.
• List the questions by importance.

L stands for Learned

The final stage is to answer your questions,

as well as to list what new information you have learned.

Either while reading or after you have finished.

• List out what you learn as you read,
  either by section, or after the whole work, whichever is comfortable for you.
• Check it against the W column, what you wanted to learn
• Create symbols to indicate main ideas, surprising ideas, questionable ideas, and those you don’t understand!

Expand this exercise beyond K W L:

Add an H! Stands for HOW you can learn more.

• Pose new questions about the topic
• How can I learn more or answer questions not answered in my worksheet
  These include other sources of information, including:  organizations, experts, tutors, websites, librarians, etc.

What’s missing?

Another strategy is to answer the questions that form the basis of good journalism:

Who What When Where Why and How (5 W's and an H)

Who are the main characters?

What does the author say happened?

Where did the action occur?

When did it happen or what is the span of time?

Why did this happen?

How did it happen?

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

I give them all a rest.