Word Clouds

CAC Wordle is a FREE tool to create beautiful word clouds.  To the left is an example of a word cloud describing our Curriculum Advisory Council.

You can either type in your own words or you can copy and paste text into it. The more frequently a word is used the larger the word becomes in the cloud.

Ideas:

Take a speech and dump it into Wordle ---- what words are emphasized? Click here for an example.

Create a word cloud as a summary of a reading assignment

Brainstorm for a writing assignment.

Joyce Valenza used Wordle to create word clouds for the sections of the library. Click here to see an example.

Directions:

  • Go to Wordle.
  • Click on CREATE.
  • Cut and past text or add your own.
  • Use normal spacing between words (no comas etc...)
  • If you have two words that you want displayed together use tilda sign (~) e.g. data~analysis
  • Repeat the words you want emphasized in the cloud e.g. curriculum curriculum curriculum
  • Click Go at the bottom of the text window.

wordle tool bar

  • Use the tool bar (pictured above) to change the layout and design. Play with the features until you have what you need.
  • Hit print screen and you can save the item as a picture to use.

Caution: Copy your text before you click on Go. That way if you think of another key word while in the design stage, you can paste the text back into the text window. Otherwise you loose all your work.

Click here to see another example and some "expert" suggestions.

Comments

Amaal said…
We used this tool in a Reading Apprenticeship training to do a quick review of what Reading Apprenticeship is. Teachers really found it valuable. Some of the ways they described using it were to surface prior knowledge and to collect big ideas that students get from text. It is an interactive tool and very engaging for kids.
November 18, 2008 at 5:47 PM
shartman said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
November 21, 2008 at 10:19 AM
shartman said…
These are really cool. There are endless possibilities for use in the classroom. I think that this would be a very motivating tool to use in any content area. I think that even kindergarten children would be able to use word clouds.
November 21, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Planning for Differentiation

Image
An article in the Washington Post, Schools Look At Providing More Time For Teachers caught my eye recently which looks at teacher planning time. As you might imagine, teachers feel they lack planning time.... and they may have a point. The amount of planning time has stayed constant while requirements for inclusion and accountability have increased. My question is do we design curriculum to address these challenges from the onset or do we expect teachers to plan lessons, adjust their instruction for a variety of diverse learners, grade assignments, connect with parents and other colleagues, make copies in a 40 minute planning period? Why not differentiate the curriculum from the beginning? The graphic to the left depicts the Curriculum Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994) which represents how curriculum might be organized to meet the needs of all learners. The base represents the most important concepts you want ALL STUDENTS to learn. The middle layer represents
Read more

Libraries as the Hub of School Improvement

Image
I love school improvement! It sounds geeky and surreal, but it’s true. I practically get goose bumps talking about continuous improvement and high leverage instructional strategies. We have worked hard at our IU to offer comprehensive services to support our school districts and truly thought we had most of the territory covered. However, turns out we never considered the role of school libraries as a source of school improvement. Summary of Research Concludes (Findings from 19 State and 1 Province including Pennsylvania) : “A substantial body of research since 1990 shows a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. The research studies show that school libraries can have a positive impact on student achievement—whether such achievement is measured in terms of reading scores, literacy, or learning more generally. A school library program that is adequately staffed, resourced, and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the soc
Read more

Luau as a Metaphor for School Improvement

Image
The luau, once called the aha aina, was an event that was designed to unite the participants and foster good will, thanks and praise. The purpose of the luau could have been to celebrate accomplishments, honor heroes or gods, or commemorate important events. While some ancient foods represented strength or virility, other foods might symbolize virtues or goals the participants hoped to achieve (from To-Hawaii.com) A luau, in other words, is all about reflection. What is going well? What are the next steps? This is exactly what our school improvement teams did last week. They reflected on the level of implementation of their plan and the level of effectiveness. Participants spent the morning going through their plans goal by goal – looking back toward accomplishments and looking forward to next steps. We over-laid these discussions with information on managing and effectively facilitating change. We read Implications for School Leaders Facilitating Change , which is from H
Read more