Using Wordle for English / Language Arts Novel Study

Wordle is a great tool for creating word clouds.  In the past I have used the website to create word clusters to preview an unit, to review major concepts with the class, and to stir up some class discussion. 

Recently, I used Wordle to teach character traits during our class study of Lord of the Flies.   I have included a recap of the 2 day lesson below.  Even though my focus was Lord of the Flies, this activity could apply to any novel study. 

Day One

Step 1

Students worked in groups for this assignment  - we had fun creating group names for each group (for example: Team Piggy, Team Beastie, Team Fair Hair, etc).

Each group received 5 sheets of paper.  With a stopwatch in hand, I gave the groups 3 minutes to write whatever words and phrases came to mind when I mentioned one of the story’s characters.  I then collected what each group wrote down. We repeated this process four more times, except each time I shaved 15 or so seconds off the clock.  

Step 2

I (randomly) gave each group the list of words for a character from our class brainstorm.  For example, one group received all of the lists that were created for Ralph and another group received Jack and so on.

Each group was given 2 tasks. 
One) Each group member had to write a paragraph describing the character their group had been assigned.  They were free to discuss the character with their group and review the lists of characteristics the class created, but they were still required to write their own, unique paragraph.

Two) The group had to type the list of words created by each group, making sure to include words that were repeated (this is important for Wordle). 

Step 3

Once all of the work was completed, each group created a Wordle for their character using the paragraphs each member composed and the list of typed words. The Wordles created by the students are posted on the right side of this blog entry. 

Day Two

Step 4

Print outs of each Wordle were on the desks for each group.

Each group was instructed to look at the word clouds for a few minutes (including their own).  In their groups they could discuss words they agreed with, disagreed with, words they’d add, words they’d remove, and words they’d alter (for size). 

Students documented this discussion with a graphic organizer in their notebooks, example included below:

Name	5 Best Words Used	Words to Remove	Words to Add	5 Size Changes
Ralph
Piggy
Jack
Sam and Eric
Simon

Step 5

We ended this activity by viewing and discussing the Wordles together.  We discussed common words for removal, reasons for size changes, missing words, and the best words included in the word clouds.

For two days we had great discussions about the characters in the Lord of the Flies and came away understanding them a bit better.

Celebrating the Sentence: Making Sentence Reading & Writing More Enjoyable

Stanley Fish has just released a new book called How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One.  Fish suggests that the best method to teach sentence construction is through examples and not memorization of grammar rules. 

NPR recently broadcasted an interview with Mr. Fish on Talk of the Nation which can be streamed here:

http://public.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/totn/2011/01/20110125_totn_03.mp3?dl=1

They have also included an article about the book which can be read here:
"Think You Know ‘How To Write A Sentence?" (includes streaming audio and transcript of the story).

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/25/133214521/stanley-fish-demystifies-how-to-write-a-sentence

As a teacher of English at a middle school, I never enjoy teaching sentence diagramming, subject verb agreement, subjects and predicates – basically most grammar activities.  Additionally, I’m sure I do not do a good job of it either.  Why?  Probably because my heart isn’t in the lessons, probably because I hated it when I was in school, and probably because it is just teaching a hard set of rules that are no fun to memorize.

This year I have been taking a different approach to sentence teaching.  The students have not been made to work out of a grammar book; I haven’t even brought a single book in the classroom.  Instead, we’ve been using the novels we read in class to look at examples.  Additionally, I’ve been bringing in great/interesting sentences I encounter in the wild from books, blogs, and magazines (as have my students).  Now according to Stanley Fish (who knows and thinks about sentences way more than I do), reviewing and studying others’ sentences is the best way to teach sentence construction.

He feels that by analyzing a sentence one can learn more about what you are reading and in turn begin to imitate those rules without necessarily memorizing all of them.   Below are a few lessons he uses when teaching. 

Stanley Fish Lesson Ideas (Teaching the Sentence)

One Lesson Idea

Start with a simple sentence: “Jim hit the ball.” The relationship is there: someone did something.  He then asks his students to do simple things and everyone in the class writes short students and the point is made: “there are innumerable contents that can fill the form, but the form is one.”  Students learn the form and thus can begin creating endless amounts of content based on that form.

Teach the form by having students look at examples first and then begin imitating that form. 

Another Lesson Idea

Look around the room and pick out 4 or 5 items.  Make a list.  Then take time to form as many sentences as possible containing all of those words. 

The discussion that follows is explaining that sentence relationships between those words.  When sentences fall apart it is because the relationship that are failing. 

Another Lesson Idea

Have students go through the poem “The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll and substitute words for the nonsense words. 

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

As a result, the sentences will start to make better sense.  You then ask the students “what did you do” and “why did you do it.”  The hope is that they will begin to understand that the form is already present in these sentences and they can develop all types of content within that structure.  The students begin to understand “that form comes first, and content follows.”

A complete copy of Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Jabberwocky”   

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/jabberwocky/

These are just snippets of lesson ideas from the interview, I am sure the lessons are explained in greater detail in his book.

Mr. Fish’s approach can be summed up by this quote from the interview:

“I have my own formula, which is sentence craft - that is, learning what it means to put a sentence together - then leads to sentence appreciation; that is, admiration for the sentences that great authors have put together; and then leads to sentence comprehension.”

I never thought I’d be interesting in reading a book about sentences, but I am. I have already added this book to my Kindle queue.

Qwiki is Great!

Even though Qwiki is in the alpha stage, it is still very impressive.  Imagine an online encyclopedia that reads the information to you and showcases a slideshow of images alongside the data.  That is Qwiki.  All of the presentations are short and offer many related entries to the topic you searched.  The whole thing reminds me of a sci-fi / HAL experience - "computer tell me about the history of Europe..."

As Qwiki grows, it could be a great way to access information.

I plan to use Qwiki as an introductory tool when starting new units, as a research kick-off point for students, review sessions, and exploring of related concepts discussed in class.

Here are a few random topics I searched:







And of course, you can post Qwiki entries on your blog or wiki with ease!

State of the Union Address & Wordle

Richard Byrne over at the wonderful website Free Technology For Teachers (http://www.freetech4teachers.com/) made a Wordle from last night's State of the Union Address.

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text."

This image could be used to discuss the issues covered in last night's address.  It might also be cool to have students look at the Wordle, discuss what they think the president's message might have been and then watch a section of the address or read part of the speech to compare (http://www.whitehouse.gov/)

Source: Free Technology For Teachers  (http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/01/state-of-union-video-text.html_

Two Neat Google Map Programs

MAPfrappe http://mapfrappe.com/ an interactive map that allows you to outline one part of the world and overlay it on another part.  It is fun program to mess around with and can allow students to compare landmasses, cities, countries, mountain ranges, whatever.  

Additionally it also offers the opportunity to discuss map distortion and the different types of projections since your outline will adjust its size in different parts of the world (the page's author discusses this issue in the "notes" section of the website).  

Gmaps Pedometer http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ is also a useful tool for mapping walking distance.  Upon first sight, I instantly thought this would be neat to use when discussing the European explorers during the Age of Exploration and to chart the path walked by De Soto's men for example.  Or one could chart the journey of the escaped Siberian prisoners from the book (and soon to be movie) The Long Walk Home.

The True Size of Africa

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/the-true-size-of-africa/

The Problem.

If I were to speak in general terms, I would say that most students do not know very much about the continent of Africa.  If I were to elaborate, I could say that most students do not understand the size and diversity of Africa either.  More alarming is the fact there is a tendency for students to confuse Africa as a country.

The Solution.

The above map found on the website Information is Beautiful might help many students make a visual connection with the size, scope, and diversity of Africa.  This map does a number of things to help students (and teachers).

1. It clearly communicates the size of the continent by including many countries students are more familiar with, especially the United States.
   
   
2. By comparing its size with other countries, it is a way to show students that Africa is indeed a continent made up of many different countries.
   
   
3. The map reveals the enormous amount of landmass taken up by Africa and as a result students can understand the variety of environmental and cultural diversity that accompanies such areas of land.  As mentioned by a comment left by Lisa students can be asked to “imagine the number of different environments and land types in the US… and now think about how much variation there can be in geology, rainfall, vegetation in an area” as big as Africa. 
   
   
4. Lastly, and probably most obviously, it offers an opportunity to discuss distortions found in map projections and the problems connected with placing a 3D spherical image on a flat piece of paper.

There is also a pdf available of the file –

http://www.edge.org/documents/Edge-Serpentine-MapsGallery/high-res/Krause.pdf

M.I.A.

Sorry to be missing in action for so long.

The blog is back and the ideas, thoughts, reactions, resources, etc are back.

New blog entries coming tomorrow.