Writing

The Wordle Hurdle

Source: http://www.wordle.net/

The Wordle Hurdle

Motivation. Creativity. Excitement. Fun. Reading. Writing. Social-Studies. Math. Science. Vocabulary. Studying. Expressive. Unique. Visual-Learners. Wordle.

Wordle(Wordle, 2014)

 Ask yourself – which is more interesting and which would you pick to look at for learning purposes? The series of words at the beginning of this article, or the image above, which contains the same words? For me, it is the picture. For many people, this sort of picture is a brand new idea, one that they have never seen before. Others have seen this type word-based imagery, but they do not know what it is exactly. In case you have not figured it out by now, this is what is called a Wordle.

Creating a Wordle is easy, and the most difficult part of the process is trying to figure out what words to include in the Wordle – which usually has a theme of some sort. I notice that the words are all the same size, except for the word ‘Wordle’. If you want certain words to be larger when a Wordle is created, simply type the words more than once. The more frequently a word appears in the text before a Wordle is created, the larger the word will appear when the Wordle is created.

Use in the Classroom

So, Wordle’s look fun, but how can I use them in my classroom? A Wordle can be used in the classroom in many ways. The easiest application can be found in language arts. Take for instance word study. A common practice in your classroom is a weekly spelling test. Giving your students a traditional spelling list, along with a Wordle with those same words, can give students multiple study options. In reading, students can identify a single character, scene or aspect from a book they are reading, and then create a list of words describing the character, scene or aspect, and then a Wordle can be created from that. This is a fun way for students to share what they know – and they can easily be used to hang in the hall to show off student work.

What about the other content areas? A Wordle can be used in all content areas. Take for instance, science. Your students are learning about matter and the specific properties of matter. You can have students create a list of words that describe matter, and then use that list to create a Wordle. This can be done individually, in groups or in whole-class form. Then, a Wordle can be created and hung up in the classroom to refer to.

In social studies, students can create lists that describe whatever they are learning, such as comparing rural, suburban and urban communities. What is specific to each of those? You could divide the class into groups and assign each group to become experts on their area (there could be multiple expert groups on the same area). Part of the assignment could be to create a Wordle of their area to share with their classmates. In math, a Wordle can be created to help learn various math terms, or real-life applications for specific areas of math. An example is where would you use money? A Wordle can be used to show all the areas where money can be used. Where do you use multiplication in real life? Create a Wordle that shows all the places you use multiplication. This will help students to see the ways that their learning can be used in everyday life. This makes learning more powerful.

The creation of a Wordle is a great tool for evaluation. It helps you to see exactly what students know about a specific topic. For example, what do the students know about a character in a book that is being read? A Wordle is great at getting down to the nuts and bolts of what students know. It sort of summarizes their knowledge. Alternatively, a Wordle is a great teaching tool at any point in a lesson. Students can create a Wordle to show what they know about a topic before they learn (pre-assessment) and create another one afterward to show what they now know (summative assessment). A Wordle can help students to identify important terms that need to be learned, and can be used to help study for spelling tests, among many other tests in all content areas.

I believe that the value of a Wordle can be very strong. A classroom with a lot of technology is best suited for regular creation of Wordle’s. The downside of a Wordle is that unless you have the technology in the classroom, and have the ability to let students create a Wordle on their own, you will be stuck creating them. If you are using them for whole-class or in small groups, it may be easier to create them yourself. Another drawback is that if they are done in black and white, they lose a lot of the attractiveness. Color is the best option when you create a Wordle.

Educational Impacts

Value: 

Upside: They are a fun way to summarize a single idea. They can be used for studying purposes over a variety of content areas, and they are free and easy to make. 

Downside: To make one is quick, but to make many can take time. So, creating a Wordle over a topic for the class, or small groups, is easy and fast to do. Creating individualized Wordle’s for each student in your class will take time. 

Standards

Wordle is a tool that can be used to help teach almost any standard. As I mentioned above, they can be used to teach vocabulary/spelling, summaries of knowledge learned (any subject), describing whatever is being taught, and the list goes on. Of course, imagination is important when using Wordle, so some  standards will more easily be able to use this tool than others.

Assessment: 

You can use the words/wordle’s your students make to assess how much of a specific objective a student understands. For example, if you ask students to create a Wordle with a them of what an urban community looks like, you can learn by what words the students choose how well they understand the concept. 

Conclusion

Wordle is a great tool that can be brought into the classroom. It helps to visually display the key components/points in any topic that is being taught. They help to teach in a visual way, and they can be used in pre and post assessments. Wordle can be used to teach, to study from and to use as a reference throughout the learning process. Depending on the grade level you have and the technology you have available, Wordle may be something that has limited use in your classroom as you may be responsible for creating each Wordle yourself. It is also best for a Wordle to be in color as it helps the attractiveness of it. The Wordle is a powerful tool – now the question is, are you going to utilize it in your classroom?

Resources

Wordle – Create. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.wordle.net/create

The Blog About Blogging

B(The Central Pen, 2014) 

Source: There are many websites on the Internet where you can create a classroom blog, such as Weebly, Blogger and others listed later in the article. 

The Mighty Blog

One of the worst things that an author can do is assume that the intended audience knows what something is – that is, that they have the background knowledge to follow what you as an author are writing. It seems that most people have some understanding of what a blog is, or at the very least, they have heard the word blog and hopefully connect the word to the Internet.

This is a blog entry about blogs, or more specifically, about blogging. It seems reasonable that before I take you, the reader, down the path of learning about blogs and their applicable uses in education, that a definition of what a blog is should be made. If I was in the classroom, I would create this definition through the ideas and words of my students – a powerful teaching technique. Since I am looking at a computer screen and have no idea who you, the reader, are, I am now left with creating this definition for you.

So what is a blog? First of all, a blog is located on the Internet. A blog may or may not have a unique web address. Many times blogs can be located on websites. For instance, news websites sometimes have blogs written by specific authors, but the website itself is not focused solely on blogging. Alternatively, a website may be focused solely on blogging. Some of these websites may include many different bloggers, or the website may have only one blogger.

Okay, so I know where blogs are and the different places blogs can be…but you still haven’t answered the question of what is a blog? A blog is a short piece of writing that is generally authored by one person and can be either fiction or nonfiction. Wow, that’s awfully broad. What goes into blogs are as diverse as the people who write them. People use blogs to write informational text, opinions on various topics, and they can even be mini-diaries. A blog can literally contain anything that the blogger wants to put in it.

Blogs in the Classroom

     The ways that blogs can be used in the classroom vary almost as greatly as blogs themselves. I have included a variety of ways that blogs can be utilized in the classroom setting. Depending on grade level, content area, access to technology and student background knowledge with computers, the suggestions may need to be altered. You, as an educator, know your class the best.

Reading

As an educator, blogs can be a great way to introduce students to a variety of writing styles and genres. If you can find a great blog as an educator, you can introduce your students to the blog and give them time to explore the blog themselves. If you find a blog/blogging website that is full of good information, you can guide your students to the website and have them use the blog as a resources. Make sure your students learn to cite their sources though – just because the information is not coming from a book does not mean you shouldn’t cite it!

As an educator, you could find two or more blogs that are written on the same topic (informational or opinionated) and ask students to compare and contrast the varying opinions and facts.

Writing

Blogs are great for writing. First, students can use blogs to find information and then write about that information. Students can read a blog and write their reaction to that blog. Students could even construct a response to the blog post and write it, and if possible, send those responses to the author of the blog.

Of course, blogs are a form of writing. If you have the technology and the proper permissions, you can create a class website that includes student blogs. This can be a powerful tool, especially if the student blogs do make it onto the website. I know from experience that when I see my own writing on a website, it gives me a lot of confidence and pride. Imagine that – giving students confidence and pride in their writing!

I do not have the technology available at my school to have my students create blogs online. If you do not have the technology to put student writing on blogs, then perhaps you could use the same idea to create student “blog books” that make their way into the classroom library. I have the technology, but I do not have the permission. If you do not have permission to post student work, it may not be the end. Work with your principal and parents on various ways the blogs can be posted. Some parents may be okay if the work is password protected (perhaps a good idea to begin with). Another idea is to have each student create pen names so that their real names never make it to the Internet. Combine that with password protection, and you should be able to convince most (if not all) parents to allow their child’s work to be published online.

Blogs for Educators

There are many blogs designed for educators. These blogs, often written by educators, help to give teaching ideas, classroom management ideas, and share information about various topics in education, among many other topics. Here is a list of various educational blogs http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/top-100-education-blogs/

As a blogger myself, I am working on a new website designed to help catch the interest of students, and help aide educators in their quest to teach literacy. The website is called The Fairy Tale Blogs, and is written from the perspective of various characters from fairy tales, nursery rhymes and other folktale. Currently, there are four “bloggers” on the website – B.B. Wolf, Prince Charming, Peter Pan and Cinderella. After each blog there are suggestions for educators on how they may use that specific blog entry in their classroom. The blog is still in development, and will not be fully ready to share/advertise to the public until the end of the Summer when there will hopefully be enough entries for the website to be functional. Consider this a sneak-peak: http://www.thefairytaleblogs.com/

Some Standards

Blogs can be used to learn about any content area, and virtually any topic. That said, they can be used to teach/learn many different literacy standards. Some of these standards are listed below:

  • Retelling
  • Compare/Contrast
  • Opinionated Writing
  • Informational Writing
  • Persuasive Writing
  • Narrative Writing
  • Determining Themes/Main Ideas
  • Perspective/Point-of-view
  • Print Concepts
  • Shared Research

Classroom Blogs

Where do I get my own classroom blog? There are a number of websites that you can use to create classroom blogs. First, check with your principal/IT department to see if there is already a blog system set up for your school. If not, then there are still options. I have listed a few free blogging websites below. Depending on your preferences, you may opt to use the pay options that some of these websites offer, as not all of their features are available in the free versions. For example, on Weebly.com, you have to pay more for password protected pages.

  • Weebly.com
  • Blooger.com
  • WordPress.com
  • Blog.com

Educational Impacts

Value: 

Upside: Students get to develop their writing skills through blogging. The power of the blog is that the students get to see their writing in digital print on the computer – and others can see it too! Their work is published, and that can help to inspire and motivate students to write. If the students choose pen names, that can make the experience even more  fun. If blogging is right for your classroom, there are a number of free blogging sites available. 

Downside: Depending on school policy and parent consent, creating student blogs may require you to jump through hurdles. Further, while there are many free blogging sites out there, they often charge for features that classroom teachers may want, such as password protected pages. 

Standards: 

You can use blogs for almost any writing standard, such as writing opinion and perspective/point-of-view pieces, informational texts and narratives. 

Assessment: 

Since student work is saved to the blog, you can assess their writing from there. This cuts down on paper, and adds the benefit of being able to grade the work anywhere. One item to consider is how well students are trained in typing. Students may make mistakes they would not normally make when producing hand-written work. 

Conclusion

Blogs can be used in many different ways in the world of education. They can be used in the classroom for reading purposes, for writing purposes, for learning information in literally all content areas, they can be utilized to learn more about the craft of educating. So, what are you waiting for? Blog on!

 

Resources

Starting a Blog | The Central Pen. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://blogs.centralpenn.edu/centralpen/tag/starting-a-blog/