ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

3. Students engage in the writing process.: 6. Students understand and use principles of language:

Equipment/Materials Needed

Microsoft Word, Wordle - http://www.wordle.net/

Understandings & Goals

Students will continue to use Wordle as a visual tool to determine main idea. This was evident at the North Dakota Legislature when legislators asked the demonstrating students to input their bills into Wordle to determine the main idea of their bill. The students will also use Wordle to help improve their writing as they look at the Wordle to check for word usage. Students will continue to use this on other projects such as a Mother’s Day project and also for an end of the year project.

Questions Answered

Familiarize student with 21st century internet tools.
Design and create a Wordle to identify the main idea of a student created document.
Revise a student created document to reflect the main idea.
Recreate the Wordle to communicate the main idea to an audience.
Learn and use computer key strokes to improve efficiency.

Procedures

1.  Create a Word document using your How-to Report or any other student created writing.
2.  Use the Control A key to select the entire document and then Control C to copy the document.
3.  Go to your Web Browser and type in the address for Wordle. Go to http://www.wordle.net/create
4.  Click Control V and paste your document into the dialog box.
5.  Click Go which is below the frame of the dialog box in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
6.  After a few minutes, your Wordle will appear. Once your Wordle is created, students should check for main idea and edit their report before continuing. After revising and editing repeat steps 2 throught 6.
7.  When you are ready to publish, your Wordle can be modified with these options:
    First, go to Language and select the following options: Remove common English words(use this for the How-to report or it will skew the main idea), Leave words as spelled, Make all words lower case, or Make all words upper case.
    Second, go to the bottom of the screen and click Randomize which gives you different word positions and designs. Choose one, returning to previous Wordles is not an option.
    Third, go to Font and pick a font design of your choice.
    Fourth, go to Layout for options of how your Wordle can be designed.
    Fifth, Colors can be changed.
    Scroll to the bottom and click, Open in Window which gives you a window copy of your Wordle. This will allow your Wordle to be printed as a full page.
    Click Print to print the Wordle.
8.  To import Wordle onto a Word document, click Control Print Screen. Then, open your Word document and it will appear. Under View, go to Toolbars and select the Picture toolbar. Click on the print screen window and go to Crop to highlight it. Starting in the upper left-hand corner drag the cropping tool to the Wordle to remove directional text. Beginning at the lower right-hand corner repeat this procedure to remove additional text. Then, double click on the Wordle and select Layout and click Tight. This will allow the Wordle to be moved anywhere on the document.
9.  Student save and print the completed project for an attractive display.