There are six steps involved in building and using the K-W-L strategy.  In the text, Content Area Reading, Vacca and Vacca recommend the following steps.
1. Introduce the K-W-L strategy in conjunction with a new topic or text selection.  Be sure that you explain to students what their role involves and why it is important for learners to examine what they know and to ask questions about topics that they will read about.
2. Identify what students think they know about a topic.  Include everything that students think that they know about the topic, including their misconceptions.  The main point of this step is to get the class involved in making associations with the topic.
3.  Generate a list of student questions.  Ask "What do you want to know more about?"  During this step, make sure that you are modeling for your students what their role as learners should be: asking questions about the material being studied.
4. Anticipate the organization and structure of ideas that the author is likely to use in the text selection.  Ask students how the author of the selection may organize or present the information.  Remind students to focus on the ideas they have brainstormed and questions that they have come up with to predict the categories.
5.  Read the text selection to answer the questions.  Ask the students to read and have them write down the answers to the questions and other important or interesting facts of information in the L column of the strategy sheet.
6. Engage students in a follow-up activity to clarify and extend learning.  For example a graphic organizer using the 5 W questions (who, what, when, where, why) or complete a learning log sheet.