Balajadia Joshua Lawrence

KWL Method is an instructional reading strategy that is used to guide us in

reading and understanding a text.

As a student, we begin by brainstorming everything we know about a topic. This

information is recorded in the K column.

Brainstorm, before looking at the text think of keywords, terms, or

phrases about the topic.
Record in the K column until you cannot think of more.
Organize the entries into general categories.

Students then generate a list of questions about what they what they Want to
Learn about the topic. These questions are listed in the W column.

Preview the texts table of contents, headings, pictures, charts etc.

List some thoughts on what you want, or expect to learn, generally or
specifically.
List questions by importance. They will help you focus your attention
during reading.

The new information that we have learned is recorded in the L column.

List out what you learn as you read.

Check it against the W column, what you wanted to learn.
Create symbols to indicate ideas such as, main and surprising.

KWL strategy serves several purposes:

Obtains students prior knowledge of the topic of the text.

Sets a purpose for reading.
Helps students to monitor their comprehension.

To apply the KWL method, simply make a table with three columns.
Example: Topic Gravity

K W L

What I [K]now What I [W]ant to learn What I have [L]earned

Isaac Newton What is gravity? Gravity is the force

discovered gravity. that pulls the objects
towards Earth.
Why is there less gravity
It makes things fall. on the moon?
The amount of gravity
there is depends on
It keeps us from the masses of the
floating. objects involved. The
moon is a lot less
massive than the
earth, so there is less
gravity on the moon.

KWL method is one of reading strategy that may utilize to further strengthen
our reading skills aside from strategies used during or before reading. They are
strategies that can employ to ensure critical reading not only academic texts, but
also of other text in general.