Word Clouds

We use Word Clouds for a variety of activities.  One of my favorite ways to use them is at the beginning of the year, in the Lab. I have students create 'Me Clouds', where they will add their name and things that describe themself or things that they like, etc..  Then they'll present them as a "Get-To-Know-You" activity.  There are some very creative Students with interesting imaginations at our School, to be certain.

Here are a few Word Cloud generators that I've used and are easy for Students to use:

ABCYa! Word Cloud: (http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm) - perhaps my favorite! Surprisingly not very many folks know it exists!  And the end results are quite impressive!  Simply type in your words and click the arrow.  The more you use a word, the larger that word will be compared to others.  Once you've added your words, click to randomize, save, print, edit, change colors, layouts and more.  It's really the easiest of the generators and I use it with 1st Grade friends and up. 

Word it Out: (http://worditout.com/word-cloud/make-a-new-one) - is also pretty simple. After entering your words, click 'Redraw' to change the pattern and font. Saving and sharing are easy, but I found if you want to print, you have to take a screenshot first and print the screenshot.  A few steps too many for the younger friends in our bunch, but do-able never-the-less.  But adding it to a blog, webpage, etc. is fairly simple.

Wordle.net (www.wordle.net) - it seems that everyone jumps on this one as their choice of word clouds and I can honestly see why.  The program makes it easy to create the clouds and they are rather distinctive in the final product.  But I always seem to get tied up with 'plugin' issues or pop ups of other kinds...very frustrating. Still....if you can get past all of that, the results are appealing.

Tagxedo.com (www.tagxedo.com) - yet another very cool word cloud generator.  Not only can you build the cloud easily, you can also pick from a huge assortment of shapes for your cloud. Very exciting stuff!  Imagine a holiday like Valentines or St. Patricks, creating a word cloud in the shape of a heart or 4-leaf clover! Perfect program for this and more.  But like Wordle,  there are pop-ups requiring a "Silverlight" download, and, only a few browsers support this program.  It can be frustrating.  Tagxedo Word Clouds can be created without an account, but having an account gives you more options and 'whistles-and-bells', which add to the overall experience.

Because I'm in an Elementary environment, it's gotten to be a pet peeve of mine to have to create an account, add student accounts with a unique user name and password for each of them, and then have to show the class over and over again how to access the generator.  For this reason, I shy away from those wonderful word clouds like, Tagul, Image Chef and others.  I know I'm missing out, but I don't want to put the Students through that level of frustration, and it's too time consuming to manage these types of accounts.  If, however, you have set all this up, chances are you'll see countless pop-ups suggesting you go 'Pro'. I might consider going 'Pro' if they would make it easier to access. If older Students have an email address and a comfort level to create an account, then this might be a worthwhile option.

Well....would you get a look at that puffy cloud!

Elana Moore