KWL Chart – Active Methodology

---

Description

This strategy serves several purposes: it elicits prior knowledge of the text, it sets a purpose for reading, and it helps students monitor their comprehension.

By being aware of students’ interests and prior knowledge the teacher can create projects and assignments that are challenging and that the students will enjoy. A KWL chart is a tool that can be used to inform teaching as well as guide student learning.This KWL resource is part of a series of Active Classroom Strategies presented by the Junior Cycle for Teachers service in Ireland. Each strategy is accompanied by a video introduction with a teacher implementing the strategy in the classroom and PDF teacher guideline instructions.

---

How to use this resource

Instructions and examples of how to use the KWL chart is available on the PDF guidelines and accompanying video. Basic instructions for use are: 

1. Choose a topic/text.
2. Ask the students to brainstorm words, terms or phrases that they associate with the topic. The students record these in the K column of the KWL chart.
3. Next, ask students what they want to learn about the topic. This is recorded in the W column. If the students respond with a statement, turn the statement into questions before recording them in the W column.
4. While engaging with the topic or text, students find the answers to the questions in their W column. Students can fill out their L columns either during or after completing the task or topic.
5. Finally, discuss the information that students recorded in the L column.

---

The resources

KWL Guide PDF:

More information on the KWL method and other student-centred learning approaches can be found using the links below.

• KWL Introduction Video
• KWL Teacher Guidelines
• Active Classroom Methodologies Homepage

---

Learning Outcomes (Teachers)

• Apply a range of suitable tools and frameworks to promote student Sustainability Citizenship
• Collaboratively synthesise the knowledge, tools and frameworks to create educational materials and lessons plans adapted to their own local context

---

Creative Commons

The Active Classroom Strategies resources have been developed by Junior Cycle for Teachers and are shared on the Synapses Portal under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial  4.0 International License.

---

SDGs