Using Wordle for Science Vocabulary

Just a quick post about something fun--I created a Wordle tonight that I am going to have students use in a vocabulary assignment throughout the week. 

We have just finished up land and water biomes, and we are moving into Food Webs and Food Chains this week.  They all fall under the Ecology umbrella, so you can see that I have included vocabulary from all of our Ecology units.

Wordle is really cool--you input either lists of words or a selection of text from wherever you would like, and it creates a visual of the words.  Words that are repeated in your text selection appear larger once the Wordle is created. I just typed in my vocabulary words, and I typed the words I wanted to appear larger two or three times. Once it creates your Wordle, you can change the colors, font, placement of words, and all sorts of customization things. 

I am going to project this up on my screen, then have my students randomly select a color (or two?) and  create a short story using those colored vocabulary words.  We are working on integrating more literacy-type assignments into our science classes, and I love having students write.  I think I will have them create a story with the vocab, illustrate it, and then maybe share in small groups.  That's just what I have come up with so far.  I'm sure there are lots of things you can do with a wordle, but I have just started playing with it. 

Have any of you used it in your classrooms?  What do you do with them?  If all else fails, it will make a nice, colorful addition to my word wall board!

The URL to my wordle is here if you would like to use it!

Classroom Update (Yes, I'm still alive!)

Whew!

The first five weeks of school have flown by!  I can't believe we are almost to the 6 week mark already....and that it has been that long since I updated.  I had all of these grand plans to keep updating and show what we were working on each week, but reality set in and I was just exhausted from getting back in the swing of things.

However, I am getting used to the routine again, so here we go!

I have my organization system for my journals to show you, the solution I finally found for my beloved color copy paper, and a couple of snapshots of what my classroom really looks like once that the kids have been in it on a regular day.

First up:  interactive notebooks/journals.

I mentioned a while back that I was going to use interactive notebooks this year, and it is going pretty well!  I like them, and the students seem to like the fact that I do all of the same work that they do when I prepare my sample journal. 

I have baskets for each class to keep their journals in, sorted by color, of course, and I also have a matching basket for each class to turn in any papers. 

 

My journal buckets and the paper baskets came from Really Good Stuff.  I ordered the neon colors sets, and I love that they match each other.  I have two journal buckets for each class, because 30 journals will not fit in one container.

 

The journals stay in my classroom in their proper bucket, up at the front of my room under the whiteboard.

 

This is what it looked like before any of the journals were in it.  The buckets are inside the shelves of the unit--it is an Expedit shelf from IKEA.  Just a note on the shelving unit--it is SO HEAVY (I loaded it onto my rolling cart from my car by myself, which I do NOT recommend!) but it is also so easy to put together.  I have assembled many pieces of IKEA furniture in my days and this was by far the easiest. 

 

The "turn-in" baskets for each class sit on top of the shelf, and I have a clipboard for the roster/grade sheets for each class that matches also.  One of my co-workers taught me last year to use a specific color paper for each class period so that they are easy to identify when I need them, and I have continued this system this year in my new colors. 

 

Here they are with the student journals all put away:

 

 

You can see that I ended up having to turn the paper baskets on top sideways.  This was because when they were turned the long way, I couldn't get my projector screen to come down far enough to my liking.  Thankfully, the baskets fit this way too!

 

 

The purple baskets that you see on either side are not for anything journal-related.  The one on the right has a file folder for each day of the week, and this is where I put extra copies of papers we have used in class.  Students who are absent go here to get their makeup work.  I love this, and it is proving to be useful because the students know just to go to the folder and not ask me personally for work that they need from an absent day.  The purple basket on the left is my classroom lost and found.  

 

 

On to my favorite organizational thing in my room, also from IKEA.

 

 

I found these paper shelves just as I was about to check out at the store with my Expedit shelf.  I know you have seen my grumbles on here about wanting a way to have my copy paper accessible to me and not stacked up high in my storage cabinet.  I use colored copy paper often, not only because white paper is boring, but also as a management tool.  It is very easy for me to tell if a student is trying to be sneaky and work on something for another class if they are supposed to have a blue piece of paper for science class and the one I see is white.  This was a tip from a co-worker, too, and it is just a small thing that helps me keep my students focused.

 

I love these shelves for two reasons:  One, they are NOT cardboard!  I hate those foldable cardboard ones that you can get at teacher supply stores.  They always seem so flimsy to me, and I see them caving in under the weight of lots of paper.  These are very, very sturdy and made of metal.  Two, the shelves on them slide out!  I can pull out the shelves when I need a specific color.

 

They also hold almost a whole ream of paper, which is nice.  My storage cabinet now only holds unopened packs of paper.

 

And last but not least, here is a look at the way my room really looks during the day.  It is not perfect, but it's a nice little sanctuary.  I added curtains, which make such a big difference--although, I get the feeling I will have to take them down when we get a visit from our fire marshall.

 

 

 



My table up front is my paper graveyard during the day, as you can see.  It is the only place that I don't have an organizer for, but I make sure that every afternoon, the papers from that day get put in the purple basket and I put the ones for the next day on my table.  

 

 

 

Hope everyone is off to a great start to the school year, and hopefully, it won't be so long before I post again!