There are several reasons teachers use the KWL chart to teach. The cornerstone to a KWL chart is that it provides educators with a quick snapshot of student knowledge (what they Know) as well as any curiosities before learning a new topic (the W section). It also shows an educator what the students have learnt after teaching (the L). Most important is how the chart provides teachers with students’ background knowledge, which is useful for making connections to learning. It is extremely versatile, because it can be used before a unit begins and near the end as a formative task to see if learning stuck.
This article offers different strategies to use in order to further enhance a KWL chart experience for students. First, let’s begin with giving a general overview of what the KWL is and some of its variants that may perk interest.
A KWL chart stands for the following: Know (K), Want to know (W) and Learnt (L).
Figure 1: Example KWL in action
Over the years, the chart has evolved into several different forms, such as:
There are many ways to slice the KWL chart, but ultimately this article’s focus is on how to enhance the basic form.
English second language (ESL) learners thrive on routine. They usually recognise patterns faster than they can process a second language. What this means for educators is that we can reuse the KWL chart and our students will benefit simply by us making it routine. This is because it will give students a predictable pattern. The KWL chart could be used at different times throughout a unit. Using it repeatedly (and even multiple times in a unit) will give students even more routine and patterns to thrive on. When we reduce students’ cognitive load with patterns in our classrooms, students can focus more on English language acquisition.
Aside from the KWL and my chicken-scratch-like penmanship, notice how students penned their responses on Post-it notes that were colour coded. This was purposefully decided and planned. The students learnt that blue notes were associated with the learnt category, and then they place it accordingly. We have maintained this same colour coding strategy for KWLs all school year. It is another simple, yet effective way to reduce cognitive load on ESL students.
You can try this same approach. Use your favourite colours if you would like.
Using Post-it notes also makes the KWL routine more mobile. Students complete the know column, leave their desks and paste their ‘know note’ onto the chart. Students then complete their ‘want to know note’ and go to the chart and paste it in the correct location. This gives students a moment to move about the room.
When deciding to complete the learnt column, use the same approach: choose one colour for ‘learnt’ and have students post the note by walking to the chart themselves. To further enhance this activity, you could select a student to read some of the responses aloud to the class so learning is shared.
A KWL could turn into a class discussion where students offer their insights and the teacher pens their ‘knows’ and ‘want to knows’ on the chart. Naming it takes this idea even further: when a student contributes to the discussion, write their name beside the insight shared. This kindles ownership and also encourages other students to contribute. I have found this strategy works very well with younger learners (particularly Grade 2), but middle school students (IB MYP) also get into it as well.
You can wait to complete a KWL at the end of a unit or after some instructions, or you can also use it as an opportunity for students to reflect. Complete the learnt column of the KWL and then continue your unit for the next few weeks. Revisit the KWL later and ask students to go back to their learnt notes and reflect on them. Ask them to expand on their learning with one or two sentences (and if you are colour coder like me, have students do this in a different pen colour to denote evolved thinking and learning).
To enhance this even further, you could ask students to discuss in pairs how and why their thinking has changed as the unit has transpired. Listen in to these discussions and then have the students write one or two main takeaways from the discussion. This strategy gets your classroom buzzing with students thinking about thinking, which is also called metacognition (an education buzz word, I know).
To encourage more abstract thinking (and to support ESL students), make the KWL visual. Have students find an image on the internet that ‘shows’ what they know. Students then do the same for what they want to know. This activity can be a Google search and you could have the students email you their photos and print them off for pasting onto the chart later.
For the learnt section of the KWL, students make a symbol that represents what they have learnt and then they justify it with something they learnt in class. Studying a novel in class, such as The Outsiders? Ask the students to find a quotation to justify their L-made image. Teaching students about adjectives? Have them use adjectives to describe the symbol they created for the L column. The possibilities are left to your imagination. This visual KWL encourages that conceptual, abstract thinking we educators are on the search for.
The KWL is a well-known teaching strategy and is peppered in classrooms across the world. The objective of this article was give you – dear educator and leader – some strategies you could consider to enhance the well-known, true and tried KWL chart.
We have all done picture dictations but this is one with a twist. It can be used at any level and is also good for exam classes where students are expected to describe pictures.
Tell students that they are going to listen to the teacher and draw.
Tell students the scene or where the picture is set (whatever place) and they must ask you questions which you will answer, providing details of the picture. Students listen and draw.
This activity could be teacher led or student centred as students could be grouped in threes (or pairs): one student would have the picture and the other student(s) could ask the student questions and do the drawing.
Teacher tells students that the setting is a cafe. The teacher encourages students to ask questions. Error correction (especially of incorrect question forms) could be provided at the end of the activity.
Student 1: Are there tables in the cafe?
Teacher: Yes, there are two square tables and three round tables.
Students draw.
Student 2: Is anybody eating?
Teacher: Yes, a woman is eating an ice cream and a boy is eating an apple.
Students draw.
And so on.
When you have finished the picture dictation, the original picture is given or shown to the students who work in pairs and do a spot the difference activity, i.e. A student could say:
‘In this picture the woman is on the right but in the original picture she is in the left.’
It is a lovely activity to practise speaking and listening. It can also be used to work on writing as they can then write a description of the picture. At higher levels, you could encourage them to use expressions such as in the background, in the foreground, or practise prepositions of place and so on.