Wordles

=Creating Word Clouds using Wordle, Tagxedo, etc. in the Classroom=

What is a word cloud? A word cloud is a graphic represesntation of words. These words can come from a speech, blog, lesson, or vocabulary list in your classroom.

One website that has become increasingly popular is Wordle -- Below is a video which provides a great introduction on how to use wordle for creating word clouds.

Another one that I like is Tagxedo -- This website gives you the options of creating shapes. This would be great for holidays and other celebrations.

Some classroom ideas on using Wordle include: 1. write an essay about a personal experience or about themselves (EX. personal strengths). 2. create a personal gift to someone by creating a wordle which contains adjectives that describe that person. 3. creative way of looking at a poll from students in your classroom. 4. use a compare/contrast tool -- compare two wordles for a classroom study. 5. create wordle for each student -- taken from other students postive adjectives decribing that student. 6. copy and paste story into Wordle. 7. create a word wall with wordles from student brainstorm -- synonyms, antonyms, definitions from vocabulary words. 8. use to review a unit 9. analyze famous speeches 10. analyze historical document 11. brainstorm/reflect 12. create thank you/thinking of you cards 13. create a words I learned this week list 14. create a list of verbs, adjectives, etc.

Glen Westbroek and others also offered some great ideas from the blog Classroom 2.0.


 * Introduction to Using "Wordle**

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There are many websites that can be used in creating a word cloud other than Wordle. That list includes:
 * 1) ABCYa Word Clouds
 * 2) Image Chef
 * 3) Quintura
 * 4) Tag Crowd
 * 5) Tag Galaxy
 * 6) Tagxedo
 * 7) Tagul
 * 8) To Cloud
 * 9) Twitter Sheep

Wordles are used everywhere. Check CNN's use of a wordle in explaining President Obama's speech. media type="youtube" key="HKzgX1tRR8Q?fs=1" height="294" width="411"

Lesson Ideas/Examples for using Wordles in the classroom --- __**English**__ Enhanced English Teacher English Notebook Cover Using Wordle as a Pre-Writing Tool Improve Vocabulary Great Gatsby Wordles Wordle Assignment -- To Kill a MockingBird Wordle Characterization Assignment

__**ESL**__ Using Word Clouds in EFL ESL

__**Math**__ Math Wordles

__**Science**__ Wordle: Seeing Science Words as Images Science Word Association

__**Civics/Politics**__ Political Wordles GoverningDynamo

__**Geography**__ State Wordle Assignment

__**Other Great Websites**__ Top 10 Ways to Use Wordle's Word Clouds for Classroom Lessons Using Word Clouds in a Lesson Gems on the Web -- What is a Word Cloud? Word Clouds in the Differentiated Classroom Speechwars

__**Presentations**__ Wordle Sandbox Presentation 19 Interesting Ways to use Worlde in the Classroom Thirty Eight Interesting Ways to Use Wordle

Wordle Tips pdf995 -- create pdfs for free, must download CutePDF -- create pdfs for free, must download Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro-- 30 day free trial
 * The more times you type a word, the larger it will appear in a Wordle.
 * Use a tilde (~) for keeping words together and forming a sentence.
 * Wordle does not use periods.
 * Defaul setting removes numbers. If you need them, then must go to Language and uncheck Remove Numbers.
 * Must either take a screenshot of your Wordle or save as a pdf.
 * If your Wordle is saved to the gallery, it is available to everyone.
 * Create PDFs for free using pdf995 or CutePDF; Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro can be downloaded for free only as a 30-day free trial.