Educational Applications of Word Clouds

Educational Applications of Word Clouds

Word cloud programs like Wordle and Tagxedo are tools that allow anyone to create fun new ways to look at words. In the classroom, these can be used to introduce new vocabulary, concepts, terms or units. Programs like Wordle and Tagxedo will "perceive" the most important words and make them stand out using larger fonts or bold lettering. I use Wordle all the time because I find it more user friendly than Tagxedo. On Wordle, I can insert my own text but on Tagxedo, I haven't been able to figure out how to do this and cannot locate an answer in the FAQ's. I use Wordle to introduce new units into my classroom. My next unit is a novel study on Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. The wordles I've created for this unit look like this:

Concepts Wordle: 

Vocabulary Wordle: 

I love using wordles in my classroom and having my kids create them as well. They love the ability to change the colors, fonts and styles.