Wordle

Wordle is not a new application, but sometimes it's helpful to remember those little tools in our technology toolbox that don't get used on a regular basis, but are perfect for certain jobs. So, I went right over to Wordle to create a word map of President Obama's speech to students.

I sent this over to my history/social studies teachers to use as an additional resource when discussing the speech with their students.
I think it would be a cool project for students to create their own Wordles, even if just on paper, of the main ideas and messages that they took away from the speech or that inspired them.

Classroom Ideas

• analyze historic documents (Gettysburg Address, Declaration of Independence, etc.)
• analyze students' own writing - show words commonly used/overused and check to see if main idea or theme truly comes through
• create a character description Wordle
  
• create an autobiographical Wordle
  
• DigiGogy's blog post on the Wonders of Wordle
• Slideshare - Ways to use Wordle in the classroom