Gauge students' knowledge of a topic before you start your unit with a KWL chart. That way, students will be able to incorporate what they already know about a topic into the new learning. Have students divide a paper into three categories: "What I Already Know," "What I Want to Know" and "What I Learned." Before a unit, have students fill out the first two categories. If you do not have time for a formal preview, you can do an informal assessment of students' prior knowledge. For instance, if you are doing a unit on the Civil War, say a term like, “Confederacy,” and ask students to give you an informal idea of how much they understand by giving you a thumbs up if they know what the word means, and a thumbs down if they do not.
Incorporate hands-on experiences that match students’ learning styles. Kolb says that learning relies on the interaction of a person and his environment. Different students learn in different way, so after you introduce a new concept, always give students time to choose an activity that matches the unit. Allowing students to choose their activity can help them engage more fully with their environment. For instance, in the Civil War unit, one student might choose to study and demonstrate fashion from the mid-1800s, another could visit the library and write a research paper on weapons used in warfare and yet another could teach others popular dance moves from the mid-1800s. Part of Kolb’s model revolves around watching to learn, so have students present projects so that they can see others’ work, too.
Complete the last section of the KWL chart. This will help students reflect on new information. Students should have made connections to the new learning while working through the unit. Encourage students to share what connections they noticed. How can they connect the learning to what they already know? In a unit on mammals, for instance, students might discuss how they learned that mammals were similar to other types of animals or how they were different. In addition to thinking and reflecting about new learning, Kolb’s model asks that students figure out how they feel about a topic. Ask students how their feelings about a topic changed since learning and exploring the new material.