K-W-L’s are a great tool for students to access their prior knowledge on a particular topic, as well as an opportunity for the teacher to see what they may need to preteach or what extensions they can add to their unit or lesson. It’s also an important tool for students to reflect on what they learned throughout the lesson or unit and to revisit and self-assess the learning objectives.

Below is a general K-W-L graphic organizer that can be used with any topic.