To help younger kids connect word size in a Wordle with frequency or importance, teachers could ask kids their favorite colors and enter responses into Wordle. The most popular word will appear the largest, helping kids link physical size with significance. Teachers can also use Wordle to help kids learn the different parts of speech. The visually engaging diagrams could be projected onto a screen, while the teacher asks about specific words.
Older kids can use the site to see a visual representation of how often a word appears in an assigned text. This can help them identify a text’s key vocabulary and themes. Teachers could ask kids to choose a word from the diagram and explain what it means, how it appears in the text, and what themes it relates to. Kids writing their own poems or essays could put their own words into Wordle. The "scrambled" version that appears in the diagram might inspire them to put words together in new ways or to reconsider or refine their word choices.
Continue readingWordle is a fun tool that creates a word cloud from text users input. A word's size in the cloud is scaled to how often it appears in the text. Users can paste text from a document or type it directly into Wordle. The tool automatically generates a word cloud that visually represents how often various words appear. Frequently used words are larger than others. The first rendering is generated randomly, and users can then customize its appearance by removing less significant words and adjusting orientation, color palette, and font. Though a simple tool, Wordle offers an engaging alternative to the traditional way of analyzing a text or set of words.
Kids who learn better with visual or spatial representations may have better success identifying key themes or identifying parts of speech if looking at a word cloud instead of the text in traditional format. The customization options allow both teachers and students to use the tool in a variety of ways and for multiple purposes. Students could even create word clouds to analyze their own writing, making it an empowering tool for self-assessment and reflection.
Wordle’s word clouds can be printed, making it easy to use them as handouts and worksheets. It would be nice if the diagrams could be downloaded as image files, but users can take a screenshot as a workaround. Word clouds presented on the site gallery are user-generated and aren't moderated, so teachers should be cautious if sending students to the site to explore on their own.