KWL Chart Generator
Enter a topic and print a KWL chart with ruled columns, or switch to a KWHL or KWL+ layout. Students can also type straight into the chart and copy it as text or print it filled in.
Know, Want to know, Learned — Donna Ogle's original three columns.
Type in the boxes to fill the chart on screen, or leave them empty to print a blank chart. Entries print above the blank lines.
KWL Chart
What do I already know, or think I know, about this topic?
What questions do I want to answer?
What did I learn? Which of my questions did it answer?
How to Use the KWL Chart Generator
- 1. Enter the topic. It becomes the chart's title — KWL Chart: Volcanoes — so students know what they are thinking about.
- 2. Pick the chart type. KWL for most lessons, KWHL when students will research the answers, KWL+ when you want them to map what they learned and write a summary.
- 3. Set the page. Choose portrait or landscape (landscape suits the four-column KWHL), the number of blank lines in each column, and whether to include a name-and-date line.
- 4. Print it blank, or fill it in first. Type into the boxes to complete the chart on screen; whatever you type prints above the blank lines. Copy chart as text gives you the entries as a list.
What the K, W and L Stand For
Donna Ogle introduced K-W-L in 1986 in The Reading Teacher (vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 564–570) as a way to help students read informational text actively rather than passively. The three columns follow the three stages of the lesson:
- K — What I Know. Before reading, students list what they already know or believe about the topic. Everything goes down, including ideas that turn out to be wrong; the point is to surface prior knowledge.
- W — What I Want to Know. Students turn gaps and disagreements from the K column into questions. These give the reading a purpose.
- L — What I Learned. After reading, students record what they found out and check it against their questions — and against the K column, where a mistaken belief can now be corrected.
Ogle's original worksheet asked for what students learned and still need to learn in the last column. Questions the reading did not answer are worth keeping: they are a ready-made starting point for further research.
KWL, KWHL and KWL+ Compared
| Chart | Columns and sections | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| KWL | Know · Want to know · Learned | Introducing any topic before reading or a unit |
| KWHL | Know · Want to know · How I will find out · Learned | Inquiry and research projects, where students plan their sources |
| KWL+ | Know · Want to know · Learned, then a concept map and a summary | Older students turning their reading into organized notes and writing |
KWL Plus comes from Eileen Carr and Donna Ogle (1987), "K-W-L Plus: A strategy for comprehension and summarization," Journal of Reading, 30(7), 626–631.
In KWL+, students sort the facts from the L column into categories, draw them as a concept map around the topic, and then use the map to write a summary. The plus is that extra work of organizing and summarizing, not another question column. You will also meet other variants, such as KWLS (S for what I still want to know) and KWLQ (Q for new questions), which keep the same three stages and add a follow-up column.
Classroom Tips for KWL Charts
- Brainstorm the K column together the first time. Model how to turn a vague idea ("volcanoes are hot") into something checkable ("lava is hotter than fire").
- Accept misconceptions in K. Writing a wrong idea down is what lets the L column correct it. Have students mark K entries that the reading contradicted.
- Coach better W questions. Push past yes/no questions toward how and why questions the text can actually answer.
- Come back to the chart. A KWL chart works best when it is revisited during the unit, not filled in once and filed.
- Use the H column to teach research. In a KWHL chart, students name a specific source or method for each question — a book, a website, an interview, an experiment.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a KWL chart?
- A KWL chart is a three-column graphic organizer: what I Know, what I Want to know, and what I Learned. Students fill in the first two columns before a reading or unit and the last one afterward, which activates prior knowledge, sets a purpose for reading and makes learning visible.
- Who created the KWL chart?
- Donna Ogle, who described the K-W-L teaching model in The Reading Teacher in 1986 as a strategy for active reading of expository text. She and Eileen Carr later added mapping and summarizing in K-W-L Plus (1987).
- What is the difference between a KWL and a KWHL chart?
- A KWHL chart adds an H column between Want to know and Learned: How will I find out? Students plan where they will look for answers — books, websites, experts or experiments — which makes it a good fit for research projects.
- What does the plus mean in a KWL+ chart?
- In Carr and Ogle's K-W-L Plus, students go beyond listing facts: they categorize what they learned, draw a concept map of it, and write a summary from the map. The generator's KWL+ layout adds a concept map area and a lined summary section below the three columns.
- Can students fill in the KWL chart on a computer?
- Yes. Each column on the page is a text box; students type one idea per line, then print the completed chart or copy it as text into a document. Nothing is saved or uploaded, so they should print or copy before closing the page.
- What grade levels use KWL charts?
- KWL charts are used from the early grades through high school, and in adult education. Younger students often complete one as a class on chart paper; older students can work alone and move on to KWHL or KWL+ as their research and summarizing skills grow.