The effect of activities based on KWL (Know-Want-Learn) strategy on 6th grade students' ability to understand informational texts

With this research, activities based on the KWL (Know-Want-Learn) strategy enable the understanding of informative texts in the 6th grades of secondary school and the dispersion of the explosion. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. The research was conducted in a public secondary school located in the central district of Siirt province. The study group of this research consists of 48 students studying in the 6th grade in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. In the research, "Reading Comprehension Achievement Test" prepared by the researcher was used as a tool to collect quantitative data, and "Semi-Structured Interview Form" prepared by the researcher was used as a tool to collect qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS 26 program. Activities were organized according to the KWL strategy for the experimental group, and activities were implemented in the control group according to the outcomes predicted by the curriculum. "Dependent and Independent t-Tests" were used to analyze the data obtained from the achievement tests. Qualitative data were interpreted using the descriptive analysis method. The data obtained from the pre-test and post-test results applied to the groups before and after the application were analyzed with the SPSS 26 statistical program. At the end of the study, a significant difference was detected between the first and last test results of the experimental group, which applied activities based on the KWL (Know-Want-Learn) strategy. While no significant difference could be determined between the first test results of the experimental group and the control group, at the end of the application, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the data of the final test results applied to the experimental group and the control group. At the end of the research, it was concluded that the experimental group had a higher level of understanding of informative texts and was more successful than the control group. According to the KWL strategy observation forms and interview results, students found this strategy meaningful and students' interest in lessons increased. In this study, it was concluded that the KWL strategy applied to improve reading comprehension skills in Turkish lessons was effective.