BP#8_2009122_Web2.0_Tools:_Wordle

In the never-ending quest to make vocabulary something fun, Wordle is the most basic fun thing students can do on their own.

A positive thing about this tool for teachers is that can be filtered for classrooms, so it should make it through network filters.

One way I can envision students using this in the room is in Room 228 all students are working on lists of high frequency words as an IEP goal until they are on grade level, along with content vocabulary words.  Sometimes it seems tedious to the students, so the more choices that are available, the better chance of completion. Students self-study their words on the computer, and make a master list of words to study every week or two weeks.  The students could use Wordle to make a fun list to study or post in their notebooks. The freedom and creativity in font and color choices is something they will play with.

For more advanced fun, a second tool is Tagul.  Tagul also creates a word cloud, and it will allow shapes to be chosen. This site requires sign up. The word clouds are clickable with the words linked with a URL.

On a scale of 1 to 5 for use in a Deaf Ed classroom, this rates a solid 5.