Teaching
KWL chart template
What students know, want to know and learned about a topic, before and after a unit.
What it is
A KWL chart is a teaching tool with three columns. K is what students already know about a topic, W is what they want to know and L is what they learned. The class fills the first two before a unit and the last one at the end. Donna Ogle developed it in 1986.
When to use it
- At the start of a new unit or topic
- To find out what a class already knows before you plan the lessons
- For self-study, to keep track of your own questions about a subject
How to run it
- 01
Collect what they know
Ask each student to add a note to Know. Accept everything, wrong ideas included. You will come back to them.
- 02
Ask what they want to know
Each student adds one question. Use the best ones to shape the lessons.
- 03
Teach the unit
Keep the board open and point to a question when a lesson answers it.
- 04
Fill Learned at the end
Students add what they learned, then check the Know column for ideas that turned out to be wrong.
Opens a new board from this prompt:
"KWL chart for a year 4 class starting a unit on the Romans"
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