Read Write Think has a fantastic template for creating Character Trading Cards. These cards are in-depth, too; they require a rather careful character analysis in order to complete. When students are finished, they can print the card and add hand-drawn illustrations. I would love it if images could be imported to add to the card before printing, but students could probably print pictures separately and glue them in place if they want a cleaner look than a hand-drawn illustration.
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WORDLE Wordle allows the user to create "word clouds" by entering text. The more often a word appears in that text, the larger the word will appear in the word cloud. The sample to the left was created by copying the first page of "The Most Dangerous Game" from an online version of the text and then pasting into the Wordle text box. Wordle allows the user to customize the color, font, and layout of the word cloud. I had another teacher create a Wordle for me using words and phrases that describe me, and it's one of my most cherished possessions. It's hanging on the wall in my classroom. I've had students create these to visually represents the many causes leading to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, which was a great opening activity that I followed up with a cause-effect paper. Click here to access a Romeo & Juliet lesson using Wordle. TAGXEDO Tagxedo takes the concept of the "word cloud" one step further by allowing you to customize the shape of the product. The sample on the left is Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech in the shape of Shakespeare. I first heard of Spell with Flickr at a breakout session run by Meg Ormiston, a wonderfully knowledgeable tech expert (a tech-spert?). Spell with Flickr is a great way to create catchy graphics for web pages or Publisher documents. I also created a vocabulary game for use with my Smart Board, where students have to drag letters into the correct order to spell a word after I supply the definition; using letters from Spell with Flickr gave the activity a little more pizazz than using a standard font, such as Times New Roman. After sharing the resource with students, I noticed a few of them wound up creating inserts for their writing binders using Spell with Flickr. It was neat to see students coming up with their own applications for this website. I've also noticed a trend in artwork that uses similar images to spell out family names and other words; this framed artwork can get pricey. Why not do it yourself using some nice glossy printer paper? Note: Consider visiting Meg Ormiston's blog for a wealth of resources. She's by far one of the most enjoyable presenters I have had the pleasure of learning from at years of Tri-County Institutes. Note: If you like Spell with Flickr, try The Visual Dictionary. Instead of searching for letters, it searches for entire words. As of January 2011, The Visual Dictionary boasts 7500 images of over 4000 words. PicLits calls itself "Inspired Picture Writing." I like it because it's great for visual learners, and it combined writing with grammar. Students can select from a wide collection of photos, and then drag-and-drop words from grammatical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) to create sentences, poems, or to brainstorm words and phrases for a longer composition. I spent one whole day during the summer creating my own PicLits as story starters for descriptive writing practice. I dragged words from the adjective and adverbs columns (making sure that each picture contained a few words that I thought my freshmen would not be familiar with) and then I had students write descriptions of the photos using the descriptive words on their PicLit. It went so well that I laminated them for reuse. I was amazed at the compositions that developed out of this exercise and, while the words weren't completely of their own selection, most students eagerly turned to a dictionary in order to find the meaning and were able to use the words appropriately. I also have students return to this previous writing at times, when they feel uninspired by the descriptive writing muse. |
AuthorDr. Jessica Pilgreen, Ed.D. Archives
December 2020
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