KWL Chart

A three-column graphic organiser, Know, Want to know, Learned, that activates prior knowledge, sets reading/listening purposes, and tracks learning. Developed by Donna Ogle (1986) in "K-W-L: A Teaching Model That Develops Active Reading of Expository Text," the strategy transforms passive reception into active, self-directed engagement.

The Three Columns

Column	When	Purpose
K (What I Know)	Before reading/listening	Activates schemata; surfaces existing knowledge and misconceptions
W (What I Want to Know)	Before reading/listening	Generates genuine questions, creating personal reading/listening purposes
L (What I Learned)	During/after reading/listening	Records new information; allows comparison with K and W columns

Procedure

1. K column: Students brainstorm everything they already know about the topic. Record individually, then share and pool knowledge as a class.
2. W column: Students generate questions: what do they want to find out? These become personal comprehension goals.
3. Read/listen: Students engage with the text with their W questions in mind.
4. L column: Students record what they learned. Compare with K (was prior knowledge confirmed or corrected?) and W (were questions answered?).

Why It Works

• Top-down Processing: Activating prior knowledge before reading/listening primes comprehension; learners build expectations and connect new information to existing schema
• Genuine purpose: The W column gives learners their own reasons to read; they are answering their own questions, not the teacher's
• Learner-centredness: Students direct their own learning by choosing what they want to find out
• Metacognitive awareness: Comparing K and L columns makes visible what was learned, corrected, or still unknown
• Identifies misconceptions: Wrong information in the K column can be explicitly addressed after reading

Applications

• Pre-reading: Particularly effective with expository/informational texts where topic knowledge varies
• Pre-listening: Works equally well for lectures, documentaries, or interviews
• Content lessons: Useful in CLIL and Content-based Instruction contexts
• Exam preparation: Teaches students to approach texts with active questions rather than passive reading

Variations

• KWHL: Adds "H: How will I find out?" between W and L
• KWLS: Adds "S: What I Still want to know" after L
• Group KWL: Completed collaboratively on a shared poster or board

Design Considerations

• The strategy works best with informational/expository texts; it is less natural with narrative fiction
• Allow enough time for the K stage; rushing it undermines the schema activation that makes the strategy effective
• The comparison between columns at the end is essential; without it, the chart is just a worksheet