KWL Charts

KWL charts are used as a way to organize information before, during, or after a lesson/unit in a
graphic organizer. Students write about what they Know about a topic, what they Want to know,
and at the end they write down what they Learned. This helps the students access prior
knowledge, create a purpose for their learning, and helps the teacher assess the student’s
comprehension. A KWL chart can be used with any grade level and any subject.

How to use
1. Create the KWL Chart

The teacher can provide students with a pre-prepared KWL chart or the teacher can model for the
students on how to create their own. The chart will be prepared with three columns, the first
column labeled “What I KNOW”, the second labeled “What I WANT to know”, and the last
column labeled “What I LEARNED”.

2. Know

Teacher will introduce the topic that they will be covering and the students will think about what
they already know about what they are about to learn. The students will write this down in the
first column labeled “What I KNOW”.

3. Wants to Know

The teacher will lead the students in a discussion about what they are curious to know throughout
the lesson/unit. The students will record what questions they have in the column that is labeled
“What I WANT to know”.

3. Learned

At the conclusion of the lesson/unit, if the students’ questions were answered, they will write
down the answers in their column labeled “What I LEARNED”. The students will also record
any other information they learned that created understanding for them.

When to use
● To access prior knowledge of a topic
● To get students to create questions about the topic
● As a way to track student progress/comprehension
● For students to keep track of what they learned
● When you want students to think about their learning

Variations
Reading KWL

A reading KWL chart is used to help students record any questions that may formulate in their
mind while they are reading in their “Want to know: column. As they continue reading, they will
be able to answer their questions in their “Learned” column. This is specifically used as a tool to
aid students with their reading comprehension.

THC Chart

A THC chart is similar to the KWL chart, but instead of “Know, Want to know, and Learned”, it
is “What do you THINK?”, “HOW can we find out?”, and “Conclusions”. The students will
create a three column notes with each on as a heading and will record their ideas and thoughts
about the topic in the first column, how they are going to investigate their thoughts and feelings
in the second column, and what conclusions they were able to draw from the results of their
investigations.

KWLS Chart

This is pretty much the same thing as the KWL chart, but the students add an “S” to the end to
note what they still want to learn about the topic. Other columns can also be added such as an “I”
to list why the information is important, an “F” to make a list of where they found their
information during their investigation, or an “R” to list any information that they will want to be
able to remember about what they learned.