KWL Chart--Original Instructions
Teachers activate students' prior knowledge by asking them what they already Know; then students (collaborating as a classroom unit or within small groups) set goals specifying what they Want to learn; and after reading students discuss what they have Learned. Students apply higher-order thinking strategies which help them construct meaning from what they read and help them monitor their progress toward their goals.
KWL Chart--Revised Instructions
Teachers activate students' prior knowledge by asking them what they already Know about the topic by looking at the title, pictures, and subtitles in the article; then students will read and discuss What they have learned from the reading that they didn't know before; and then students discuss what they still want to Learn about the topic or something they found interesting in the reading. Usually this is posed as questions.
The difference between the original and revised instructions mainly deal with extending the article by having them ask more questions after reading. I do this because I feel that students' not only will construct meaning from the reading, but will pose questions that will allow them to look more into a topic from the reading.
Here is an example that I used last week with my Computer Applications students:
1. Using the article below, fill out the attached KWL Chart:
Green Roof Article
KWL Chart (Revised Version)
| KWL Chart | ||
| K—What do you already Know about the topic? | W—What did you learn about the topic? (Support from the article) | L—What more do you want to Learn? (Pose questions.) |
| | | |
In the first column, students would fill out information they knew about Green Roofs. They would look at the article's titles to find keywords, look at the pictures from the article, and pull from their previous knowledge.
In the second column, students would read the article and fill out information they learned from the article that they didn't know before. This means, whatever facts, figures, etc. they read in the article that were important should be put here.
In the last column, students would pose questions about what more would they still want to learn after reading this article. For instance, after reading this article about Green Roofs, students might ask if they would be able to grow a Green Roof in Colorado since our weather varies throughout the year, or they may ask how much it might cost to install a Green Roof. I think that having students pose questions about other topics that could be questioned from one article helps lead to higher level thinking.
What do you think about this writing activity? I do want to add more by having students look up the information they pose in the questions. (I will post real student examples soon!)
Good job incorporating your Computer Applications class in this writing element. Another thing you might do is have them create this document in both Word and Publisher and then embellish it to make it their own. You could also have them outline the differences between the two programs in regards to creating documents like this.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the CCS's are emphasizing is the use of computers to do writing. There are guidelines calling for various amounts of on-demand writing to be accomplished in a single sitting at different grade levels. While they do still support the idea of the "writing process" consisting of a draft, revising, editing, and publishing, the new standards place more emphasis on doing it all at once on the computer. Not many adults I know go through the classic writing process when writing papers - we just start writing and obviously go through a form of the same steps, but at a much faster rate and all of it on a word processor.
For the last 7 years I've had to teach both Computer Applications and Careers classes. This year, thankfully, I was able to pass the careers classes off to another teacher and was able to pick up a couple science classes. Sorry, but I HATED teaching careers to 8th graders! HATED IT! It's a completely canned program anyway and I was sick of it after 5 years. My point is that during that time I did what you probably do as well - have students write a report on their chosen dream occupation. That is a goal of the CCS's. Something I didn't do, but you probably could with your older students in addition to the "Informational Occupation Report", is to assign a fictional narrative about a, "Day in My Life - 2025" wherein they assume they have attained their dream occupation and what it looks like to live it about 15 years in the future. Marriage, kids, mortgage, lifestyle, car, commute, income, advancement, etc. Lots of room for creativity there!
I used the KWL chart in a staff development program that I wrote. Finding that information was totally new for me, but I can see where it is helpful. It would give you a quick look at the different student levels and where they were at. Thank you for sharing this. jln
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