Wordle-+Melissa

While working on my Capstone over the summer I was shown Wordle as a way to allow my students to name their “Islands.” My students sit in cooperative groups and I wanted them to be able to take pride in their group work and area, as well as own that area. I then began to think of different ways that I could also use it.
 * __Overview:__**

Here is a picture of what the islands look like. This is actually my friends room, as I did not take any pictures of mine, but it is set up the exact same. 2 Island names that my kids picked and had a fun time making wordles with were "The Jersey Shore" and "The Cranky Pants"



**__How it works:__** Wordle is a Google App Engine that allows you to input a list of words and it will automatically generate a fun word jumbo. If you want a particular word to stand out, you can enter it more than once and Wordle will recognize the importance and make that word more prominent. The best part of Wordle...IT'S FREE!! Below is a few screen shots of how it works. What is nice about Wordle is that you can edit the font, language, colors, orientation of the words. Using this same Wordle I played around a little and came up with some fun images: If you have a student who has difficulty with the words being in any direction, you can make it so that they are all either vertical or horizontal:

In my class, I have started each new unit with a Wordle of the vocabulary that students will learn that unit. Each student gets a copy and they can always refer back to their Wordle when they “just can’t remember what it’s called.” I also allowed my students to name their island, tell me their favorite color and made them island nametags. It is a great idea for students to go home and make these on their own for a project or any other time they might need one. My kids have loved them and have gone home and just created them for the fun of it. HS girls seem to really like it for decorating their binders. Here is an example of what my binder would look like:
 * __Ways to Use it in a Classroom:__**