What is a KWL Table? (Ogle, 1986) - A KWL, 'Know, Want to Know, Learned' chart is instructional employed to help students navigate through the text. The strategy is utilized to gauge the things students need to learn and those that students have understood and learned. First, a chart is developed consisting of three columns, namely, Know, Want to Know, and Learned. Next, the students ponder over the things that they know about a certain topic. These things are listed or recorded in the K (Know) column of the charts students then develop questions about what they want to know about certain topics, which are placed in the W (Want to Know) column of the chart. Lastly, the students go through the given text or passage and are asked to respond to the questions they have recorded in the W (Want to know) column of the chart. Their answers and responses to their developed question are then included in the L (Learned) column of the charts it means that students have learned the things they wanted to know about a certain topic. KWL charts help the instructional strategies in numerous ways. For example, the chart helps elicit prior knowledge about a certain topic, identify the purpose of reading a text, and allow the student to gauge their understanding of a topic.

The Internet makes it super easy to find out just about anything you want to know. In fact, it's often way too easy to get lost in a vast ocean of details and forget how you ended up there. Teach your students beginning critical thinking skills by helping them identify a starting point, a specific set of answers to acquire, and a review of the knowledge they gained when they are introduced to new material. Teach your students how to frame their research and reading. Because scratching a mental itch can be just as satisfying as scratching a real one.