K-W-L (What I Know, What
I Want to Know, and What I Learned) is a teaching model developed to encourage
purposeful reading by
K: activating and organizing students' prior knowledge,
W: developing questions of personal interest to focus attention during
reading, and
L: summing up and reflecting on what was learned, if and how questions
were answered.
Ideas, questions, and results are recorded on a chart for the whole class or
for individual students.
KWL can also be used to
facilitate science learning by
K: pulling together what students already know (or think they know),
W: helping to generate questions for investigation, and
L: summing up findings and further questions.
By providing a recognized "legitimate" structure, KWL may make some teachers feel more comfortable about setting up explorations and investigations even if they don't have specific directions for predetermined demonstration experiments.
KWL is also a useful strategy for built-in assessment and planning. (See "Performance Assessment: Five Practical Approaches" by Anne Grall Reichel in Science and Children. October, 1994, p. 21-25.)
| What l/We Know | What l/We Want to Know | What I/We Learned |
|---|
Possible additions to chart and/or topics for discussion:
What we think we know, but aren't sure about
What's our evidence for what we know
How we might find out what we want to know (what would be evidence?)
What could we find out by interacting with or observing the materials/phenomena, rather than by reading or asking experts?
What questions do we still have?
Below are some materials and strategies for inviting people to explore the way things roll. A wide range of questions and problems may be explored, depending on the variety of materials provided, the wording of initial questions, and the interests of students.
Materials:
-Variety of balls, marbles, other rolling objects (cylinders, cars, etc.)
-Tubes: cardboard (paper towels, toilet paper, wrapping paper, etc.; some cut
lengthwise, some whole); plastic; other
-"Ramps": pieces of foam core, cardboard; boards or long blocks, etc.
- Blocks or other materials for support; masking tape, scissors.
1. K-W-L Strategy:
a. Ask students what they know about balls and how they roll; record
responses on a large chart headed "What we Know."
Depending on age of students, you might ask about the evidence they have for
what they know.
b. Under the next category, "What We Want to Know," record questions students would like to find out about. Ask "How could we find out about that?" "What would be evidence?" "Which questions could we find out about using the materials we have here?"
c. Students plan and carry out investigations of their questions.
d. Record results
in chart section headed "What We Learned."
Encourage students to recognize and record things they're still not sure about,
or new questions still to be explored.
2. Problem/Challenge: Use these materials to: make a ball move around a corner, up a hill, down a ramp as slowly as possible. . .
3. Open Inquiry/Exploration: Find out whatever you can about how these materials interact, how balls roll/bounce, what influences the speed and distance of a rolling ball . . .
What did you learn from this approach?
How would you compare your feelings/thoughts/experiences during exploration with your feelings/thoughts/experiences during more traditional learning experiences?
What do you think might be advantages and disadvantages of this approach for teachers and students?
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