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Goals & Objectives:
The goals of a KWL activity are to assess student learning on a singular
concept and to preassess student prior knowledge.
After completing a KWL activity, students will:
- Pre-assess their knowledge of concept x
- Explore new knowledge of concept x
- Articulate new knowledge of concept x
as determined by successfully attending to 80% of the requirements.
Prerequisites:
There is no specific requirement that students have pre-knowledge of the
given topic, but it does aid the activity if there is some foundation knowledge
upon which to build.
Materials and Resources:
What needs to be prepared in advance by the teacher? Each student will need
a KWL sheet upon which to enter their items. Generally, a KWL sheet has the
topic listed at the topic. In 3 colums, students enter what they know, want
to know, and learned.
What does the student need to bring to the lesson? Preferably some prior
knowledge. If the learning activity involves a textbook or other student
resource, they will need to supply the item.
Guiding Questions for this Lesson:
What knowledge did the students gain compared to their prior knowledge and
expectations as a result of a given learning activity or reading?
Lesson Outline and Procedure:
- Begin by providing students with the topic and why it is important in
order to create a proper learning set.
- Give each student a KWL worksheet listing the topic and providing 3 columns
for know, want to know, and learned.
- Have the students fill in the know and want to know columns and submit
them to a discussion forum or drop box.
- Alternatively, use Writely or some form of wiki and have the student
collaboratively construct group prior knowledge on a given topic.
- Can also be modified to have students construct a concept map of
what they already know about a given topic.
- This part of the activity could be performed synchronously, followed
by an asynchronous learning activity.
- Give the students a list of readings on the topic, a multimedia activity,
or some other activity to learn about the given concept.
- After a set period, have students submit a list of items that they have
learned in the final column of their KWL worksheet.
- Alternatively, have students add to their wiki or concept map based
upon new knowledge. Can be done as groups of 3-4.
- Alternatively, construct the Learn aspect in a synchronous chat session.
- As an instructor, provide additional items that the students may have
collectively or indivually missed in the activity.
- Alternatively, present students with a completed concept map, highlighting
items that they were exceptional at picking out.
Learning Activities and Assessments:
- Learning is typically verified using a table within which student list
their K, W, & L statements. Typically, at least 5 items should be listed
in the learned column.
- What will the students actually do during the lesson to ignite, maintain,
and verify learning?
Teaching Strategies:
What are some tips to help the lesson run smoothly?
-
To engage the students, a topic for the activity must be chosen that will
ignite and maintain their interest. It needs to be something that they
want to learn about and that they already know something about, but not
enough to satisfy their curiosity.
- Many activities can be included between the W and L activites.
- Collaborative activites such as wikis and concept maps can be used to
construct visualize knowledge formation. The concept map provides a visual
alternative to the typical table used in most KWL activities.
- Add an I = Why is what you learned
important? [Author note: I have not actually seen this on in the references
submitted, but it is something that I made use of when teaching in high
school. Virgil]
- It is important to have
many resources prepared in order to address 'want to know' questions
that may arise.
Accommodations:
The accommodations will depend on the nature of the activity between the
W and L stage. Also, if a concept map or wiki alternative is used, the software
should be compliant with whatever accommodations have been implemented for
your students. Finally, if the activity is performed in small groups, time
may become an issue for some disabilities. Other accommodations may be needed
if a synchronous aspect is chosen.
Timeline:
How much time would a typical online student require to complete such a
lesson? In general, the K and W activities should take about 10 minutes to
complete. The learning activity can be just about any time frame, but should
be less than one week so that students still have a frame of reference connection
to the beginning of the activity. The final L aspect may take as little as
10 minutes if individually, but may be extended to an hour of synchronous
or collaborative activity in constructing a concept map or similar product.
Learning Connections:
What connections to other
topics exist within the lesson? This will depend on the scaffolding of the
activity. If the information is mapped in a concept map, then many connections
may exist. Also, in synchronous alternatives, students may be directly questioned
about connections. Furthermore, when provided with instructions for the activity,
students can be encouraged to think about such connections.
Ideas for Lesson Evaluation and Teacher Reflection:
How did the students like the lesson? How was student learning verified?
Useful References:
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Orcas,
a multimedia learning adventure involving Orcas appropriate
for elementary grades. Could be advanced for higher grades. 
