is similar to the popular website, Wordle, but takes it one step further and allows you to select pictures to type words into. You can even upload your own picture to play with. I used Tagxedo with 3rd grade students who were studying poetry and made "Shape Poems." They are also great to brainstorm or introduce a topic and incorporate vocabulary.
I am familiar with Wordle, but I think I like this one more. Have you ever used this with younger students? In thinking of how I might use this, I could incorporate it with character traits, our animal unit, and number units. I think it would help my kindergarten students to hand write FIRST what they plan on typing, then they could type it into Tagxedo. Thanks for sharing! - Amy
ReplyDeleteI have not used it with Kindergarteners, yet! By the 3rd or 4th quarter they may be able to try to use it...but the youngest aged kids I've used it with so far is 2nd. Let me know if you give it a try. :)
ReplyDeleteI was really excited about your post to use this site to create shape poems, because we are about to start our poetry unit. I have been playing around with Tagxedo, but I was not able to get the site to allow me to type my poem in their shape so that it still looked like a poem. Even with all of the different options available, I was not able to create a typical shape poem where the words were horizontal and in the order I wrote them. Is there a way to do this that I am not aware of?
ReplyDeleteI became very frustrated with it to perform this task, but I think it would be a great tool to use to help students in other ways besides poetry. I think it would be a great tool to use to identify the main idea of an online article or of a story they wrote or are reading. I think it would also be useful to use at the beginning of a unit to create a list of prior knowledge about a subject or at the end of a unit to allow students to make a list of all of the knowledge they now know about a topic.
We discussed Wordle at our February staff meeting. One use that I found interesting was to introduce vocabulary in articles. I think this site is a bonus for students who are visual learners and would benefit from being able to see the words inside a shape that is related to the topic. I have not played around with this site or Wordle, but would love to create something to use when introducing novels to my students. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteJess, I do not know of a way to have the words in lines as you described. When my students used it for a "shape" poem, it was not a traditional shape poem but instead just displayed the words they brainstormed throughout the shape.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, It is similar to Wordle because it positions the words randomly. However, if you enter words in more than once it will display them larger. Therefore it would be great for vocabulary. When I taught 3rd grade I used Wordle often for unknown vocabulary words students would come across in a story. They would have to look up the word in a dictionary and/or thesauraus and create synonyms or describing words they would associate with the new word to create a Wordle and share it with the class.