I am a Wordle Junkie! There...I said it! I enjoy creating those blobs of random words that are somehow tied together by techniques that are sometimes less subtle than the Wordle itself. One of the first assignments that implemented the Wordle tool was a fiction characterization assignment. Students had to find pictures of the main characters in the novel, import the pictures into the Wordle web application, then write as many words and phrases as they could create from their impressions within the text. I even allowed them to include important quotations. What resulted was a silhouette of the character formed from the words that characterize who they really are in the world of the story.
With emphasis on the writing in the Common Core, I decided to create a Wordle that would help students visualize the power of word choice. Authors cannot haphazardly and randomly choose words to communicate effectively, and I was hopeful that a Wordle might put that abstract idea into a visual learning moment. What popped out of the screen? Some strong images found in the Carl Sandburg poem "Chicago" which was what our class was preparing to read. We used it as an activating strategy to build prior knowledge. With the focus being the city of Chicago, the reader has to determine why the poet chose words like "savage, bareheaded, wilderness, gunman, hunger, burden, and brutal." By using the Wordle, we can discuss which words received the most emphasis in the poem in comparison to the size, and we can look for patterns and make inferences before we ever start reading.
Yes, it's true that a Wordle is the closest I will ever get to anything remotely artistic, but that's o.k. I have other strengths that will serve me better than artistic creativity. When I find out what they are, I'll write that in another blog.
Missy
With emphasis on the writing in the Common Core, I decided to create a Wordle that would help students visualize the power of word choice. Authors cannot haphazardly and randomly choose words to communicate effectively, and I was hopeful that a Wordle might put that abstract idea into a visual learning moment. What popped out of the screen? Some strong images found in the Carl Sandburg poem "Chicago" which was what our class was preparing to read. We used it as an activating strategy to build prior knowledge. With the focus being the city of Chicago, the reader has to determine why the poet chose words like "savage, bareheaded, wilderness, gunman, hunger, burden, and brutal." By using the Wordle, we can discuss which words received the most emphasis in the poem in comparison to the size, and we can look for patterns and make inferences before we ever start reading.
Yes, it's true that a Wordle is the closest I will ever get to anything remotely artistic, but that's o.k. I have other strengths that will serve me better than artistic creativity. When I find out what they are, I'll write that in another blog.
Missy
RSS Feed