It’s the beginning of a half-term holiday here and, just as it was about to start, I was set the task of preparing some training for the first Monday back! Hmm.
Well, I suppose it is raining and my garden can wait a bit longer…
The training is to be on strategies that encourage students to reflect and review their learning progress. On reflection (hehe), I settled on the idea of showing my colleagues ten strategies that could be used in this way. So, as I plan the session and make any new resources, I will share them here too. Prepare yourself for ten tools for thinking and reflection.
Tool One
The first is simple but never fails: the trusty KWL grid. Before embarking on a new topic students jot down what they know already and what they want to know on the topic. They use the first two columns of the chart below. It’s a simple ‘assess prior learning’ task really and always good practice.
When they have completed some learning, say at the end of the lesson, they go back to the chart and fill-in the final column – headed ‘what I learned.’ This, of course, is the reflective bit.
I have used this strategy many times and it always encourages interesting and detailed reflection.
Filed under: Education, Resources, Thinking Skills
Thanks for creating this resource Andrew! I hope you don’t mind but I’ve added it to the teaching strategies wiki?
[...] KWL chart is always useful, always powerful in helping students reflect on old and new learning. Visit his blog for a more in-depth discussion of the KWL chart. Also, Andrew created a KWL chart for [...]
Hey CT, er… no, I don’t mind: I feel both flattered and guilty. I am pleased that you’d make the effort to add it to the ‘wiki’ (still haven’t investigated what one of those is all about – how is it different from this blog?) and guilty because I should have done something to support it (and you) by now. I am sorry about that.