Research KWL  Folder

What I Know

What I Want to know

What I Learned

Strategies for Teaching Reading

KWL can prove especially powerful as a tool to guide students in researching and writing. When used for this reason, students can collect material in a KWL folder. The folder includes three sections  in which students keep an ongoing list of what they know, what they want to learn, and what they have learned in their research. In addition, students keep track of bibliographic information on individual index cards and place the cards in an envelope in the back of the folder.

Do you Celebrate 
Black History Month?

Each year in February Black History month is celebrated. Let’s celebrate Black History Month this February with a research activity that results in a great display. Assign one of the famous African American listed below to each child. Have the students research his/her person and prepare a short talk on his/her life and accomplishments. Also have the student prepare some type of visual such as a poster, cutout, or timeline to accompany his/her talk. 

Try beginning in February to set aside time early each day for two students to give a “morning update” on their famous African-Americans. After the morning’s updates, mount those students' visuals on the bulletin board or wall. As your display grows, so will student’s knowledge and appreciation of our country’s rich African-America heritage.