Image courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/
Today’s Web 2.0 tool is Wordle . Posted above is a wordle that I created thinking of words that identify who I am. It was a fun exercise for me to think of descriptive terms, and I feel this could be a wonderful assignment for a student to explore and express his/her identity. The first step would be to create the wordle, and the second step would be to present it verbally to the class in a sharing activity. I see wordles being a type of graphic organizer as well. The possibilities are endless. In pondering how I would use Wordle in my classroom setting, I can envision it as part of a “Word Wall” with music terms, vocabulary words that would relate to the unit we are studying.
Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg in 2009. On the site he answers frequently asked questions, has a link to his blog, a discussion forum for members, a public gallery, and the place to create your own wordle. You do not need to be a member to create, publish to the public gallery, or embed your creation on your own web space or blog. Once you have created your wordle, you have the options of changing the language, font, color scheme, and randomization. Using Wordle can be quick and not require much thought, or invite deeper delving into oneself for the words to be expressed. Screen captures or other image representation of a wordle must be attributed to http://www.wordle.net/ Images of Wordles are licensed by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
I think Wordle is a great tool for visual learners. It is always interesting to ask different people the first three words besides the main topic that jump out at them first. For me it was friend, musician, teacher.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this used but have not tried it until after I read your blog. How awesome... makes great covers for books and assignments. I like what Drew mentioned about his curiosity to see what people see first. I'm always excited about analyzing why people do certain things. Love the idea of using it as a word wall since I am expected to have one. I plan on playing around with that idea. Thanks..
ReplyDeleteYou were able to review one of my favorite Web 2.0 applications. Just last week I used Wordle during a writing conference with one of my students. I took there paper and copied it over to Wordle. The over use of words in there text was very evident. The student got what she needed to do to make corrections without ever saying a word. I also plan to use it with my colleagues at work. We have been working on our School Improvement Plan and I think it would be interesting to see what themes emerge from the collaboratively developed plan. We would simply need to copy and paste the document we have been working on over to Wordle.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI love your Wordle and look forward to creating one of these for myself. I like the idea of you creating one just for you. Sometimes I have difficulty finding just the right words when describing myself because I don't want to puff myself up. This is a nice exercise for taking an a deeper inner look into oneself and visually seeing who you are "in words" When I saw the word flautist, I had to go to the dictionary because I didn't know what it was--but I learned something new today! A flautist is the sophisticated word for flutist! Well, both of them are sophisticated! Nicely done, Kathy. Keep up the good work!
Natalie
Kathy...don't you just love Wordle. If you've seen any of my blog posts, you'll notice I have lots of Wordle art. So simple to use, even my 2nd graders use it. Great job on your blogs. I enjoy reading them. Some of the middle school teachers at my school (I teach at a K-8 school) use Wordle to highlight "over-used" words in students' writings. It's a real eye-opener!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very cool site. I like the Wordle that you created. I especially think that it is a great tool to help build self-esteem in students. I see it could also be used to show growth. As a student enters your class, he would create one about himself, and as he exits your class, be given an opportunity to create a Wordle again, and compare the two.
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