KWL Chart
Abby: OK, here's what we're going to do. We're going to make a chart that will organize some information for your report. This is called a "Know, Want to Know, and Learned" chart. Some people call it a KWL Chart 
. Have you ever heard of that before?
Marcus: No.
Abby: I'm going to write these three things at the top of this page: "Know-Want to Know-Learned" and then we're going to begin filling in the columns. In the first column, we know one thing so far: the state for your report!
Marcus: Oregon.
Abby: Right. (Writes this down). Do you know anything else about it?
Marcus: (Is quiet.)
Abby: Let's look at the map again. I'm going to point to the area where Oregon is.
Marcus: It's near the ocean.
Abby: Great, can you think of anything else?
Marcus: It's near California and it's very far from New York.
Abby: Good thinking. Now what things to you want to know about Oregon?
Marcus: Well, like what's the weather like there? And is there a city?
Abby: Those are interesting questions. Is there anything else you want to add?
Marcus: Oh yeah, what's the capital, and what's the thing they grow — like, what do they sell there?
Abby: Great, now we have some good questions to think about when you start doing your research. See this last column: Learned. This is where we're going to fill in the answers to these questions after you've done some research. Now what should we do next?
Marcus: Make a plan?
Abby: Right, we'll make a plan for how you can collect more information about Oregon. Do you have any books at home that have information about states?
Marcus: Yeah, there's a big book about all the states in my mom's room.
Abby: That's perfect. You can also find some information on the states at the library and on the Internet. What's the first thing you think you should find?
Marcus: The capital? And maybe the rivers and mountains?
Abby: Those are excellent places to start. So I'm going to make you a checklist and after you find out each thing you can check it off and then add the information to our KWL chart.
* * *
Abby and Marcus make a plan for starting the report. Also, they write down two things he can ask his teacher: what information he needs to include about his state and when the report is due. Abby then takes all the pieces of paper: the questions for the teacher, the check list and the KWL chart and staples them together and adds a blank page on the front and writes "Oregon Report Information."
See Next Activity: More practice with non-fiction
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