A lovely and splendid powerpoint for Reading 504 class. Please comment below if needed.

1. K
W
L
Instructional Literacy Strategy

2. The K-W-L Methodology
Things We
Know
Things We
Want to Know
Things we
Learned

3. What are they?
• KWL charts are instructional tools designed to
be initialized at the start of a unit and utilized
throughout. They consist of 3 components:
o KNOW- Students use prior knowledge about a new topic and share
information that they already know for the first column.
o WANT to learn- Students brainstorm information that they would like to
learn in the new unit.
o LEARNED- At the conclusion of the unit, the KWL is revisited and
students check off items that they learned and add items to the final
column

4. The Instructional Strengths of
KWL
• Used as graphic organizers to help students assemble
information before, during, and after a lesson.
• Visual and interactive representation that brings in prior
knowledge
• Creates strong buy-in and ownership of learning by making
learning interactive
• Involves self-awareness, self-assessment, and self-regulation.
• Enforces critical thinking skills.
• Great tool to assess prior knowledge
• Many opportunities for individualized instruction and
scaffolding.

5. The Limitations of KWL
• KWL charts utilize prior knowledge. If the student lacks
prior knowledge, the KWL will fall short.
• Students with low reading and comprehension skills can
be encouraged to copy from the text or pass over
information that they do not understand.
• Student prior knowledge can be helpful but may
potentially be inaccurate, leading to confusion and
struggle.
• Academic vocabulary can be an issue with a reading
assignment if steps are not taken to scaffold.

6. Adaptations
• KWLs are versatile teaching instruments that can be
adapted to fit any content area.
• As long as the 3 components are present, any topic can
be broken down into a KWL.
• Works well with academic vocabulary in social studies,
might stumble with ELA vocabulary.
• 2 examples follow:
o Social Studies
o ELA

7. KWL Social Studies
What we Know about
the Civil War
What we Want to Know What we Learned
• America was involved
• Many deaths
• Involved slavery
• Lincoln was President
• Fought between
American states
• Occurred after
Revolutionary War
• End of the war ended
slavery
• What were the many
causes?
• Who were the
important leaders?
• How many states
were involved?
• Why did states pick
their sides in the war?
• When did the war
occur? When did it
end?
• How many battles
occurred?
• Lasted until 1865
• Emancipation
Proclamation was
released during the
Civil War
• Slaves were freed as a
wartime necessity.
• Only 1 President
during the Civil War
• The Confederates had
their own President
and government
• The South won most
battles at the
beginning due to
leadership
• The draft was
unpopular

8. KWL Literature
What we Know about
Animal Farm and 1984
What we want to know What we learned
• They are books!
• Written by George
Orwell in the 1940s
• Animal Farm is shorter
• They are very famous
• Animal Farm is about
farm animals that speak
English
• Why do the animals
speak English?
• How do they pick their
leaders?
• Why do they rebel?
• What is life like on the
farm?
• What do these books
have in common?
• Why are they so famous?
• What are these books
telling us about
government?
• What themes exist in
both books?
• Animal Farm is a book
about governments and
communism
• Communism is a type of
government that tries to
treat everyone equally
• Leaders in communist
governments treat their
people unfairly
• Citizens in communist
governments are often
abused and discarded
• History is often changed
in communist
governments

9. Vocabulary
• Depending on your source, KWL charts can enhance or
limit vocabulary growth.
o In subjects like social studies and science, students need to grow their
academic vocabulary during the unit in order to comprehend the lesson
objectives.
o Vocabulary is often a vital part of unit plans in these subjects.
o In ELA, many sources claim that students who are missing essential
vocabulary will skip over unknown words, resulting in lower
comprehension, or require additional scaffolding.
• To combat this, teachers must intentionally plan to
incorporate essential vocabulary into the beginning of
units to avoid these issues and limit difficulties.

10. Instructional Framework:
Before
• Before a lesson, KWL charts work with the
Instructional Framework
o The KNOW column accesses and addresses prior knowledge before
the lesson begins.
o Students take a self-guided approach to the lesson in the WANT
column, allowing the to dictate items of interest and control their
outcomes.
o The WANT column stimulates interest in the material since students are
actively involved in the regulation process of learning.

11. Instructional Framework:
During and After
• During the lesson, KWL charts are useful tools:
o Teachers and students continue to refer back to the KWL in order to
organize, focus, and direct learning
o Students are focused on specific objectives during the lesson.
• At the conclusion of the lesson, KWL charts are
brought out and reviewed.
o Classrooms revisit prior knowledge, make changes, and determine what
they have learned.
o Teachers can use adjacent concepts to further learning and lead into
future topics, demonstrating connectivity with the learning process,
solidifying past objectives and building into new learning.
o KWL charts can easily be used again for review if saved.

12. Bibliography
• Ogle, D. (1986). K-W-L: A Teaching Model That Develops Active
Reading of Expository Text. The Reading Teacher, 39(6), 564-
570. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199156
• Building the Foundations of Literacy: The Importance of
Vocabulary and Spelling
Development http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/hmsv/expert/research.ht
ml
• Jared, J. Elizabeth, Jared, H. Alva (1997). Launching into
Improved comprehension. The Technology Teacher, 56(6),
24–31.
• Glazer, M. Susan. (1998). Using kwl folders. Teaching Diverse
Learners, 29(4), 106-107