In high school, I applied for many scholarships. It was very competitive between my classmates. Many of these scholarships asked for a 500 word essay on various topics, sometimes just on the idea of "why I deserve this scholarship more than someone else." My mother typically proofread these essays for me. I remember the unfailing feedback I grew to expect: "You used (insert word here) too frequently. Go find some synonyms for it."
Those words have haunted me for over fifteen years. When writing papers for my undergrad degree, I would even count how many times I used the big idea in a paper so I could find synonyms as I went instead of rewriting afterward. By the time I finished my graduate degree, it was no longer an issue. I had spent over fifteen years developing the habit of not using the same word too many times. Now, how was I supposed to pass that gift on to my students without giving them haunting memories of their teacher standing over them, arms crossed, wearing a scowl? In addition to sparing them that nightmare, I'd also like them to identify with good word choice at an earlier age than I did. And so my search for a way to teach this skill continued until a teacher friend introduced me to
Wordle.
Wordle is a "word cloud" generator. In simpler terms, it gathers all the words you've used in a piece of writing and randomly arranges them in something that looks like a cloud. Words that have been used more frequently than others are larger than the remaining words. Here's an example of what this blog's word cloud looks like thus far:
It seems as if I might need to look for a synonym for "word" judging by the size of this display.
Wordle is simple to use. Simply access the website at
http://www.wordle.net. From the home page, you can browse saved word clouds from other users or create your own by clicking on the "Create" link. There are three options here - copy and paste in the text, enter the URL of any site that uses an RSS feed, or add in a Del.icio.us user's name to see his or her most common tags. For most classroom uses, choose the copy and paste option. After pasting in the text, click "Go." You will be redirected to a page with your word cloud. From here, you can change fonts, layouts, and colors. If necessary, this page can be printed or the cloud can be saved so that it can be accessed later.
Another use of word clouds includes comparing two articles. Want to find the most common theme in a meeting or even a speech? Take notes directly in Wordle and then generate a cloud. Here is an example of two Wikipedia articles. One is about FDR's New Deal and the other is about the government bank bailout of 2008.
By showing these two word clouds to students, you could generate a discussion about how these two events are connected, or, not connected.
Wordle is so diverse that it could be used in many different disciplines, as an engagement tool, and for a variety of activities to elicit higher order thinking. Options are endless!
