Word Clouds

This week's topic focuses primarily on the manipulation of the building blocks of communication: words.  Word clouds have been around for a while and most of you have probably used them or, at least, heard of them.  And, there are a variety of different websites that generate word clouds in an user-friendly environment.  Best yet, they are FREE! and do not require signup.

Three word cloud generators that I have used are Wordle, Tagxedo, and ABCya.  Each has a bit of a different layout, but the operations are essentially the same.  Simply type or paste text and create.  I personally like to use Tagxedo, but all three are worthwhile.  If you want to create multiple word terms like "Abraham Lincoln," simply insert a tilde ~ between the two words like "Abraham~Lincoln."  The only catch I have noticed while using Wordle and Tagxedo is that, for some reason, they won't work in the browser Google Chrome, so use Firefox.

Aside from been kitschy, neat things, they provide solid educational value.  Some people would think that they are only applicable to vocabulary, but they can do so much more.  If you are teaching your students about music, have them create a word cloud on Tagxedo as a diagnostic tool to see how much they know about it.  For example:

Even the alphabet looks pretty cool (kindergarten? kids could assemble the alphabet in order from the jumble):

For high school, a word cloud can act as an aid in discussing current events like the Affordable Care Act by inserting the www.healthcare.gov URL into the appropriate spot:

Even the media uses word clouds fairly often.

One that I've created for my Personal Law class for Chapter 3 is:

If you want to try out other free-but-registration-required word cloud generators, try Tagul or Image Chef.  They have many other image options, but again, requires students to sign up and check their email for verification.

Another lesson for this week runs in tandem with word clouds.  And, its something that I just discovered.  You may want to create a word cloud, but want to use it on your word wall.  But, 8 1/2 x 11 is not that large.  How do you generate poster-sized images?  Finally, I have a solution.  Its an application that you have to download from the Internet called PosteRazor.  I've tried it out and it works well.  You still have to tape or paste your papers together, but it does the job.

If you want any step-by-step instructions on how to do any of the things that I have shared with you today, feel free to comment or email me at hockingj@haven.k12.pa.us.  If you have a Twitter account, tweet how you've used technology in the classroom by using the hashtag #haven2point0 @jahocking.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.