Pedagogy

= A Little Pedagogy... = =So, you've mastered one of these Tag Cloud creators--now what do you DO with it?=

=Here are some classroom ideas:=


 * 1) Create a tag cloud of the text of the book you’re reading and instead of a “picture walk” do a “cloud walk.” You can introduce frequent vocabulary and let kids predict the story from the combinations of words they see in the Tag Cloud.
 * 2) Another for ELA teacher – Create a cloud of a collection of words that represent parts of speech. Change the colors to white words on black background and print on overhead transparency. (If the service allows that option.) Project the cloud onto a large sheet of butcher paper and ask the kids to come and color nouns a certain color, verbs a different color, etc.
 * 3) An extension of #3 – Create clouds of Characters and Character traits, print overhead transparency and project. Use a color to connect characters with their specific traits.
 * 4) Having trouble with kids and transition words? Let the students create clouds of their own writing and analyze which words are being used most often. If “THEN” is the biggest word, the kids will know immediately that they need work with their transitions.
 * 5) Teaching 6 + 1 traits? Having trouble getting kids to understand importance of Word Choice? Create a cloud of their writing and let them see a visual representation of the words they chose and work with their peers to improve their vocabulary choices! (Or use a website like the [|VISUAL THESAURUS] to identify synonyms visually.)
 * 6) Social Studies teachers can create tag clouds of news articles from several sources and compare to look at bias or to evaluate credible sources.
 * 7) Science teachers can create clouds of whatever text they are using as an introductory activity to show students vocabulary they will be encountering, then going further by making predictions about what the words might mean in the context of the words that already have prior knowledge of that appear in the cloud.
 * 8) Have students create a cloud of a favorite poem or song for themselves as you introduce them to creating clouds. This would be a great beginning of the year activity and could be extended to be a “Word Cloud Biography” to hang up in the room and then get to know each other as they do a “Room Walk.”
 * 9) Building on #8, if students are preparing for a holiday like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. They could create word clouds of wedding vows, family stories, favorite love songs of their parents or grandparents, or just the names of the people in their families to create a very personal, but creative and artistic gift that’s suitable for framing. (And it’s free!)
 * 10) Music teachers could create clouds of lyrics or famous musician’s biographies for comparative analysis.
 * 11) Students could create clouds of their writing to create a tag cloud as a “front page” for their writing or a “cover” for their books or short stories.
 * 12) School Systems could create clouds of their Mission Statements for a nice visual to hang in classrooms. (And to see if they really are valuing what they think they are valuing...)
 * 13) Teachers beginning the Curriculum Mapping Process could create clouds of their State Standards or Performance Indicators to begin the discussion of creating a common language around the critical pieces of curriculum that should be represented in every teacher’s classroom.
 * 14) Teachers could create clouds of their class lists or Principals could create clouds of their Staffs’ names to create a neat visual as a basis for a discussion of teaming or the importance of connections between people. (Making sure everyone in the cloud is represented by the same size font.)
 * 15) Teachers could also use clouds to visually represent grading rubrics as a reminder of the important points that students should consider while doing projects.

=Within a Marzano Framework for Effective Teaching Strategies:=


 * **Identifying Similarities and Differences** - As stated above, students can create tag clouds of similar articles and compare the frequency of the words that have been used, creating an out of context analysis of the articles. (They can also go back to the original printed text to further analyze and evaluate the conclusions they drew from the tag cloud and how that might differ from the conclusions they draw from the full text. -perhaps this could be done in groups with an oral discussion/comparative analysis.)
 * **Summarizing and Note-Taking** - Students can summarize full texts quickly for a simple "gist" level of meaning, perhaps as an introductory activity or as a visualization of a summary that they write--for comparative analysis with other students summaries.
 * **Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition** - Teachers could create tag clouds with motivational messages or inspirational quotes. Additionally, students could create tag clouds describing each other as a positive behavior strategy.
 * **Homework and Practice** - Students could create a visual representation of their homework rather than the same rote assignment. Classroom discussion could be around how this would be evidence of learning versus a traditional homework assignment. (What has to be represented in the tag cloud in order for it to be of equal substance to the original assignment?)
 * **Nonlinguistic Representation** - Nonlinguistic Representation is about the visual, the engagement of the right brain in the context of more traditional linear details. Even though the tag clouds are text based, they offer a different version of the text and utilize different fonts, different colors, and different modes of creation than linear tasks, and thus tend to be remembered easier.
 * **Cooperative Learning** - Students could create tag clouds together to represent their learning or to summarize text. They could write collaboratively, but use the tag cloud as a revision and editing practice. They could create tag clouds as a procedural step in the learning process.
 * **Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback** - As I've mentioned, tag clouds would be great for revision, to help students target overused words, opportunities for upgrading word choice, or discussion points for improving overall writing skills, spelling skills, and/or out of context design and meaning.

[|Elementary Writing Samples to create Tag Clouds with].

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