Okay, so I’m spending way too much of my time playing with Wordle, you’ve got to try it out if you haven’t yet! Be careful though, it’s addicting! Wordle is a free web tool that creates funky word clouds from either text you type in, from RSS feeds, URLs, or a del.icio.us account. The more times you type in a word, the larger that word appears in your cloud. You can change the font, color, and layout of your cloud. To try it out, go to the Create Wordle page. Begin by typing in your words, click on Go, and watch the magic happen. Once your Wordle is created, you can edit you Wordle to your liking. You can then print it out or save it to the Gallery.
Here is one I created about myself that I’m going to share with my students our first week back at school as an ice-breaker activity:
I’ll then have them create a Wordle about themselves as well to share with the class.
I’ve been thinking about ways teachers could use this tool in different subject areas. Here are a few ideas;
Language Arts:
*Spelling or vocabulary words
*Synonyms and antonyms
*Brainstorming lists of settings or characters for future writing ideas
*Create a list of those “Worn out Words” that students cannot use in their writing.
Science:
*States of matter: solids, liquids, or gases
*Steps of the Scientific Method
*Observations from different experiments
Social Studies
*Details of a specific battle, person, or event in history
*Characteristics of a certain Native American Tribe, Ancient Civilization, Holiday, or Famous Person
Tina Coffey has great Wordle ideas to see at her blog, Teaching with Technology. So go ahead, try it out, and let me know how you are using Wordle with your students.
