The KWL strategy is a teaching method created in 1986 by Donna Ogle to engage students in a new topic by activating their prior knowledge and sharing learning objectives. It uses a graphic organizer where students list what they already Know, what they Want to know, and finally what they Learned about the topic before, during, and after instruction. The strategy provides benefits like visual planning, engagement, assessing knowledge gaps, and summarizing learning, though it may not support all learning styles and requires students to internalize the strategy.

1. KWL
Teaching Strategy

2. What is KWL
• Created by Donna Ogle in 1986
• Teaching strategy used
– to engage students in a new topic
– Activate prior knowledge
– Share unit objectives
– Monitor learning
• Graphic organizer that allows students to
organize information, before, during, and
after a unit or lesson

3. What is KWL
• K
– What do you Know
about the topic?
• W
– What do you Want to
know?
• L
– What did you Learn?

4. KWL

5. KWL Pros & Cons
• Pros
– A concrete, visual tool which helps
students plan
– Activates prior knowledge and
engages students as active learners
– Can be used for multiple subjects
– Helps students and teacher realize
whether there are gaps in the
students’ knowledge which the
teacher needs to help fill in
– Helps student summarize what he
or she has learned
• Cons
– Very visually-oriented, not very
helpful for auditory or kinesthetic
learners
– May be a distraction, not a help,
for students who are not proficient
readers
– Only beneficial if students
internalize the strategy and learn
to use it fluently

6. KWL Example