Wordle is a great software that can
be used in an English classroom when teaching several different topics. Wordle.net is a free website that serves as a cloud generator to produce a picture with
words. For example, if a student wrote a paragraph, they could copy and paste
it into the textbox on this website and the software would generate the words
to create a picture using words. The words appear in all directions:
horizontal, vertical, diagonal. The words that are used most frequently in the
text appear the biggest. For this reason, this software would work particularly
well when students need to identify the theme of a passage. Since the size of
the words defines repetition and the frequency of the word, students could
identify the theme of a passage with the biggest words.
If I instructed my students to write a paper, this software could be used for feedback. For example, just by copying and pasting a paragraph into the software, the students are able to get a sense of how frequent they repeat certain words without even noticing it. Once the student notices that they have repeated a word several times, they can go back and edit their essays either by coming up with synonyms or deleting sentences.
Another feature that I like about this software is that students are about to transform their words into a shape. For example, if students write a story about their love for coffee, they can actually design a mug with the words used in their essay. They also have the option to edit the colors, size, and font of their words.
Not only can this software be used in an English class, but it could be used in other content areas. I particularly think this software would make a great lesson when combining both Art and English.
If I instructed my students to write a paper, this software could be used for feedback. For example, just by copying and pasting a paragraph into the software, the students are able to get a sense of how frequent they repeat certain words without even noticing it. Once the student notices that they have repeated a word several times, they can go back and edit their essays either by coming up with synonyms or deleting sentences.
Another feature that I like about this software is that students are about to transform their words into a shape. For example, if students write a story about their love for coffee, they can actually design a mug with the words used in their essay. They also have the option to edit the colors, size, and font of their words.
Not only can this software be used in an English class, but it could be used in other content areas. I particularly think this software would make a great lesson when combining both Art and English.
I always saw Worlde used, and I know what it does; however, I never really understood how it could function pedagogically. I enjoy your post because it informed me of the pedagogical possibilities of Wordle. The student I tutor for READ411 has significant reading problems to the point where he is classified under Special Education. I could potentially use this with him. I could tell him to use it on texts he may not understand to find the words with the most frequency. From that, I can guide him in developing questions to try to draw the connections that will lead him to coming up with the theme of a particular text. I can see this as being very useful to students with learning disabilities. I like how you also say this can make the editing process easier because I know that I have a problem with repetition. I want to do more research into this because it just seems like it can be a useful pedagogical tool. Your blog post has got me very interested, and I thank you for bringing this technological tool to my attention. I want to see how this may possibly help my student.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteWordle.net sounds like a great tool for the English class but I also saw this working great in the social studies class. I think that it is great for a student to see what their words can create. In a history class I think it would be great for students to describe in words what they think a historical event may look like or what they think happened. When they put it into wordle.net, the scene that they described can be shown in a picture. I think this would be a great project for students as a class so each student can see how each others pictures differed. This will allow students to recognize that everyone pictures things different and show the perspective of each student. I also think this will be helpful for the students to learn the information. After everyone created their picture, this could be a great review for students by learning about each event through the pictures. I think wordle.net can make the history classroom much more interesting and creative.
I have very mixed feelings in regards to this program. I am not very familiar with the site, however my teachers have used it before. On one hand, this is a very helpful site for if a student wants to check his/her work like you said in your post, or good if a class has a creative project that utilizes the site. But, on the other hand is the fact that it is not a solid way to sum up a reading. Just because in a text the word monomyth is repeated many times does not mean that the students know anything about what the monomyth is. I guess like most technologies in the classroom it has its pros and cons.
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