A KWL chart for the first day of a 1st grade communities unit. The prompt names cities, suburbs, and farms, and students fill in the K column (what I know) and the W column (what I want to know) before any teaching. The L column stays empty until the end of the unit. It is a short two-page organizer with no answer key, and it lines up with the C3 Framework indicator D1.3.K-2 on facts linked to a question.
D1.3.K-2
“Identify facts and concepts associated with a supporting question.”
The K column collects the facts students already hold about cities, suburbs, and farms, and the W column turns gaps in those facts into questions for the unit.
Students read that the class will soon learn about cities, suburbs, and farms.
They write or draw in three large boxes headed What I KNOW, What I WANT to know, and What I LEARNED, and they leave the last box for later.
First lesson
Model one K entry and one W entry on the board first. Many first graders write "I don't know" in the W box until they see a real question like "Do farm kids ride a bus?"
Unit wrap-up
Store the charts in folders and hand them back on the last day. Students fill in the L box and check whether their W questions got answered.
Drawing option
Early writers can draw in each box and dictate a word or two. A picture of a tall building in the K box still counts as a fact about cities.
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