Words in a Cloud
By: Samatha Morra
This article is about Samatha's experience with Wordle , a free web based tool that creates word clouds. The Wordle takes text and uses the most common words and places them as the biggest in the cloud. Then the student can change the colors and sizes of the words.
She used this tool with her students and the Declaration of Independence. Her students liked it so much she let them use it on texts of their choice. She said they did other topics that lead to great class discussions. One of which kept the kids until after the bell rang. She also took this tool to a teachers workshop. The teachers used the tool in their classrooms and one said it made a difference on her students' papers.
Wordle is a great tool for discussion starters. Giving the students a way to express themselves without worrying about grammar is a great tool. It also gives the students creativity by allowing them to change the colors depending on the topics. I would use this web tool for a project of mine as well.
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This seems like a great tool to help students learn and keep their attention. It seems like you can use this tool with almost any subject, which is great. Some students could be too shy about expressing themselves because they do not have correct grammar, but this seems like a great way to help them get past their fears and help them get involved in school
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