KWHL chart

To introduce our unit on circles, we will use a KWHL chart.  8th grade students have worked with circles, circle formulas, and pi in previous years, but it always seem to serve as a stumbling block in our learning.  The KWHL chart is going to give me some idea of what they already know and where we need to go.

K - "This is what I already KNOW about circles" - The student lists everything they can think of.  As a class, we make a complete list of what we know collectively.

W - "What do I WANT to learn?" - At this point, students should have an idea of where they are struggling.  Again, we will brainstorm the lists the students have created to create a plan of where we need to go.  Teacher direction can be added here as well.

H - "HOW will I learn this?" - In the digital age, this is extremely important.  If I need to find an answer, where can I look?  What resources are available to me to help me out?

L - "What did I LEARN?" - This column is a summary of all the new learning that has taken place.  It should address what was in the W column, although ideally, there might be some new knowledge listed here as well!