What is KWL (Know-Want-Learn)?
The format is fairly simple – but there are several ways to do this. The most basic way to do a KWL is collectively on the board. Students identify their prior knowledge and the teacher writes it on the board. Students generate questions and the teacher writes it on the board. At the end, students discuss what they have learned and the teacher writes it on the board. One of the goals of KWL is to allow students to direct the learning process. It makes sense, then, to allow students to direct the KWL activity as well. One way to do that is through individual graphic organizers or foldables. Create an organizer with three sections. One section corresponds to the question, “What do I already know?” A second section corresponds to the question, “What do I want to know?” The final section corresponds to the question, “What have I learned?” This allows for instant differentiation. Each student can create their own KWL – identifying their own knowledge and setting their own learning goals. It
