Come on Board the Wordle Wagon: creating word clouds on your computer

by Lynell Burmark

Although my most adamant advocacy is always to start with the image, ultimately Visual Literacy requires our students to learn to process both words and pictures. They must be able to move gracefully and fluently between text and images, between the concrete and the abstract, between literal and figurative worlds. This wonderful new, free application www.wordle.net provides a fantastic tool to introduce new vocabulary, to focus on key words, to review (using words that recall images, videos, and visual as well as other sensory experiences), and even to assess by having students color in the words (on black and white Wordles) to demonstrate understanding.

Technically speaking
Just a quick word on how Wordle works, from a technical perspective. The two Wordles above were created by weighting the words, a function of the Advanced section of the application. I just created a Word doc with nine words

that I would use to describe the essence of the program, and gave each word a number to represent the relative size I wanted displayed in my Wordle Wordle. wordle: 1400 clouds: 1200 text: 900 create: 900 words: 800 colors: 750 layouts: 700 fonts: 650 frequency: 600 Then, I copied that list from the Word document and pasted it into the Paste weighted words or phrases here in the designated box in the Advanced section of the Wordle website.

As best Ive been able to determine, through trial and error and through checking out the Forum where users post questions and answers on the Wordle website, the numbers are more an art than a science. One thing I would say is that any word weighted less than 600 will be too small to be legible if your final display size will be 72 dpi and less than 300 pixels wide by 200 pixels high, e.g., if your intended goal is a low resolution thumbnail for the web. On the other hand, if you are making larger charts or posters, you can add a lot more words and make at least some of them significantly smaller. (See discussion of the Poster Maker large format printer later in this article.) Other options are to input text by importing it from digitally saved documents (pasting in a bunch of text), or to enter the URL of any blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed, or to enter a del.icio.us user name to see their tags!

Credit where credits due

Jonathan Feinberg, a Senior Software Engineer at IBM Research in Medford, Massachusetts (U.S.), creates, as he states in his blog: useful collaborative applications. He adds, modestly: I also made Wordle. In the Credits, he writes: I acknowledge my employer, IBM Research, for extending me the extraordinary privilege of using code, which I wrote on their time, for this personal project. While I did develop this web site on my own time, I developed the core algorithms for laying out and displaying words on company time.

Examples of educational use

As evidenced by the Wordles posted in the online Gallery and comments by users in the online Forum, let alone the tangible enthusiasm from audience members when I show Wordle in my presentations, this is a product whose price is right (free) and whose use in education is growing exponentially. Ill just give a few examples here. Id love to expand this article with examples from YOU. So, send me a paragraph about your idea and a .jpg or .png of your Wordle (or the date and time you posted it to wordle.net) and permission to add it to this article and giving you full credit possibly including it in my presentations and/or upcoming book(s) and article(s) for the benefit of other educators worldwide. Send to: lynellb@aol.com

Example 1: Bookends (Wordle + Educational Video + Wordle)

In the good old Leave It to Beaver days (which happened before most of you reading this were born), classrooms were relatively homogenous. All 25-30 students came from the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic groups, so teachers could assume and draw upon a common bank of background knowledge and experience. (Some kids might be smarter, others might learn differently, but they all had been to Disneyland!) Now, even if the economic status is similar (as in enclaves like Leesburg, VA where homes range from two to five million dollars), the students come from many different countries and bring a wide range of life experiences to the classroom. In order to create common knowledge, short of a field trip, the best way is to show a video. The teacher might use a Wordle with a few keywords to alert students what to be

looking for and listening to in the video, but the vocabulary focus would come mainly after having seen the concepts, ideas and activities in the video. The good folks at 100% Educational Videos, www.schoolvideos.com, have recently come on board the Wordle Wagon. They are considering the possibility of posting Wordles for all of their K-8 videos to give teachers a quick way to preview the content. For starters, CEO Eric Dahm and Production Supervisor Colleen Jackson took one of their popular educational DVDs, Weathering & Erosion, and pasted the script into the Paste in a bunch of text box under the Create tab in Wordle to create the following cloud:

I created a second Wordle, with just 12 words, that teachers could give to students as a preview, and use for discussing (and recalling) the video later. The Weather Wordle could even serve as a review or assessment tool: For example, the teacher could give a definition of changes and ask the students to color that word in blue changes.

The teacher could pause the video at appropriate spots to focus on volcanoes, for example, or project an image (from the video or a complementary still) and ask the students to color the word volcanoes in red. Weather Wordles could be printed out in a variety of sizes, depending on the purpose. 8x10s could go to individual students to color and put in a notebook or a

backpack. With a Poster Maker large format printer if you have access to one at your school or through another school making posters as part of a student-run business or fund-raiser you can print the Wordles 17-inches high for individual or partner work, 23 or 29-inches high for group work, and 29 or 36-inches high for class displays. (The paper comes on a roll, so the width can be as wide as you want!)

These posters can also be laminated before or after coloring. If you laminate them before coloring, then you need to use Expo brand markers and can choose between permanent or wipe-off varieties. NOTE: The age and ability of the students, the depth you wish to pursue on the topic, and the coloring tools you choose will determine the number of words for your Wordle. Using black as the background (because other colors pop against it and because its more forgiving of coloring outside the lines), students would use every color in the box except black, so you could color nine (9) words with Crayolas 10 Classic Colors broad line markers.

Example 2: Colors Wordle

Use the Advanced section of Wordles to weight the colors. Make the word colors

the biggest, followed by the primary colors (red, blue and yellow), then the secondary colors (purple, green and orange), and maybe a few other common colors like gray, brown, and pink (in the Crayola 12-pack). Print out the Wordle with white letters on a black background. Click here for a high-resolution (300dpi) black and white jpeg of the Colors Wordle.

I gave a black and white printout of the Colors Wordle along with a box of 64 Crayola crayons to a bright, creative kindergarten student named Emma. I asked her to color each word in the right color and then to color each letter of the word colors in a different color. She had no problem identifying all the color words. She had her own idea how to color the word colors:

In the classroom, teachers might complement the Colors Wordle with another poster, this one of the Color Wheel.

Starting with red (from 3:00 5:00), students can color each segment and learn such concepts as complementary colors (red/green, yellow/purple, blue/orange) and warm colors (red, orange, yellow) and cool colors (purple, blue, green). Complementary videos, posters, and slide shows can enrich the understanding of each color. For red, think projected images of STOP signs with the audio track of Stop! In the name of lovebefore you break my heart. by Diana Ross (and the Supremes). Think a wonderful slideshow on your LCD projector with fullscreen photographic images of all things red roses, hearts, fire engines, fires, Monets poppies, painted lips, painted fingernails, Santa Claus. Have the students collect images and serve red licorice while voting for the best one!

Example 3: Dolch Wordle Opposites

As you know, the Dolch Word List contains 220 high frequency words that have to be easily recognized in order to achieve reading fluency in English. There are many ways to master this list, including learning to read Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat, which uses only words from this list! And, of course, there are flash cards. As a classroom teacher of English as a Second Language, I spent so much time (yes, nights and weekends!) creating flash cards that I didnt have time to get married until I was thirty-one years old. Of course, now we can automate the flash card creation with tools like the Cutout Maker or by having students make digital flash cards on the computer and display them with the LCD projector. To complement those flash cards (still a valid teaching tool) now we have Wordles!

Using the same basic approach as with the Colors Wordle, we can create a series of Dolch Wordles that group around 10 words per page and then print those out as reference pages (8x10 inches) and as black and white posters that groups of students can color to help them learn the words. Because the brain thrives on making connections (and because the connecting glue makes learning memorable and sticky), the most effective Dolch Wordles would be ones where the words were grouped in some meaningful manner. Throwing in one big word (the critically important concept of opposites), here are two charts to get you started. 1) The first chart was created by hitting the Re-Layout tab (under AdvancedLayout) until I found a layout that would only need minimal adjustments (cutting and pasting a few words in Photoshop) to place the matching words next to each other.

The word little was intentionally made relatively small so pre-reading students could be instructed to find the smallest word, little, and color it yellow. Then the concept of opposites could be introduced, and students could look for the word big and color it in yellow as well. Big is a good word to start with because it can be sounded out phonetically. Other

word pairs could be assigned other colors. Opposites could be left white to show that white is the opposite of black. 2) Once students mastered the easy Wordle, they could move on to a Wordle with the words placed randomly, without the proximity hints:

Example 4: Spelling
Like the Dolch words, spelling words can migrate from daunting and decontextualized lists to game-like Wordles. An eminent psychologist (who has asked to remain anonymous) shared with me that he has started to use Wordles to transform his grandson Christophers spelling lists into an activity the eightyear-old looks forward to doing. Chris first Wordle was with mostly familiar words, like names of family members (including Cowboy Roy, the beloved family dog).

From there, grandpa (Papa) moved to printing out a list that included the spelling words for the week. By choosing Any Which Way from the Layout menu, words are placed in random directions on the page, forcing Christopher to turn the paper to focus on one word at a time, rather than being overwhelmed by the length of the list.

Again, this Wordle is sprinkled with familiar words to guarantee initial success. (With Cowboy Roy around, everyone knows the word brushed.) Engaging the visual, tactile (turning the printed page) and verbal skills simultaneously gives Christopher more tools not only to remember the words he already knows but also to absorb and recall the new ones. And by repeating the sentence Christopher loves to spell. in every spelling Wordle Christopher may actually come to believe it! Another plan is to introduce the new and difficult words in a bigger size. Having the challenging words larger would allow Christopher to trace them with his finger as he said the letters out loud. As words are mastered, they get smaller and smaller, so that more and more words can be on the Wordle to visually demonstrate to Christopher how many words he can spell, to prove what a great orthographer he has become.

As a reward and a futher means of involving Christopher in the activity, hell be invited to create his own Wordles with words he knows how to spell and new words he wants to master.

Example 5: Color Control

If you let Wordle have its way, it will give you a pretty picture, but not always in the colors you want or need for instructional purposes:

Once again, program creator Jonathan Feinberg comes to the rescue with an Advanced feature that allows you not only to assign sizes to individual words, but

also precise colors! Using the Hex Codes a conventional numbering or labeling system for colors you can designate which colors you want for which words.

In Christophers first Wordle above, on black, there were: 9 animal words in yellow bear: 700:FFFF00 bird: 700:FFFF00 cat: 700:FFFF00 cow: 700:FFFF00 dog: 700:FFFF00 duck: 700:FFFF00 horse: 700:FFFF00 pig: 700:FFFF00 rabbit: 700:FFFF00 In Christophers second Wordle above, on black, there were: 9 time/weather words in green plus the 9 animal words (shrunk in size) in yellow day: 700:33FF33 moon: 700:33FF33 morning: 700:33FF33 night: 700:33FF33 rain: 700:33FF33 snow: 700:33FF33 stars: 700:33FF33 sun: 700:33FF33 wind: 700:33FF33 bear: 475:00:FFFF00 bird: 475:FFFF00 cat: 475:FFFF00 cow: 475:FFFF00 dog: 475:FFFF00 duck: 475:FFFF00

horse: 475:FFFF00 pig: 475:FFFF00 rabbit: 475:FFFF00 In Christophers third Wordle above, on black, there were: 9 body part words in pink plus the 9 time/weather words (shrunk) in green plus the 9 animal words (shrunk still more) in yellow arm: 700:FF00CC eye: 700:FF00CC foot: 700:FF00CC feet: 700:FF00CC hand: 700:FF00CC head: 700:FF00CC leg: 700:FF00CC lip: 700:FF00CC nose: 700:FF00CC day: 475:33FF33 moon: 475:33FF33 morning: 475:33FF33 night: 475:33FF33 rain: 475:33FF33 snow: 475:33FF33 stars: 475:33FF33 sun: 475:33FF33 wind: 475:33FF33 bear: 250:00:FFFF00 bird: 250:FFFF00 cat: 250:FFFF00 cow: 250:FFFF00 dog: 250:FFFF00 duck: 250:FFFF00 horse: 250:FFFF00 pig: 250:FFFF00 rabbit: 250:FFFF00 Of course, if you are printing out the Wordles with white letters on a black background (the hex code for black is: 00000), your crayons and markers will determine the colors of each word. (Imagine a large poster on the easel board and the teacher inviting a student to come up and color a particular word. Major focusing power!) But if you are displaying your Wordles from the computer screen using an LCD projector, you need to assign the colors you want if the color of the words is an issue for meaning or emphasis. There are thousands of websites that list all the hex codes. You might try the Hex Hub, which is very user friendly, at: www.december.com/html/spec/color.html

In Wordle, I personally find the yramirP color palette of red, blue, and green on black to be the most striking:

We just have to remember that eight (8) percent of males have some type of color deficiency (common problems being an inability to distinguish red from green or see red against black). Only 0.5 percent of females experience color deficiency. So, before we female parents, grandparents and educators settle on a Wordle color palette that we find aesthetically pleasing and/or instructionally powerful, we should probably check it out with our male children/students. A quick check can be accomplished by some slides on the computer in different color combinations using words we are sure that they recognize. A friend discovered another tip-off re color blindness when he found his son reading the names of the colors on the crayons to find out what color they were. Then, of course, there are the mismatched socks a possible indicator of color deficiency, although not a definitive diagnosis.

Example 6: Wordle Me
If you peruse the online Wordle Gallery, youll notice hundreds of users have posted Wordles describing themselves in some way physical characteristics, things they like, etc. A slight, and very positive twist on this would be to create a Wordle with each students admirable character traits. Some traits may totally capture the person; other traits may reflect talents, behaviors and attitudes you would like to encourage, to see developed and demonstrated more frequently. We used the Advanced feature of Wordle and pasted in the top ten adjectives to describe 5-year-old Emma:

We created the Wordle with white letters on a black background and then had it printed out on the Poster Maker using the purple/white paper to get a purple background with white words Emma could color in with her pastel markers.

Emma has hung the pretty purple Wordle in the room where she teaches school Monday through Friday, 3 6PM, to her grandpa, her Raggedy Ann, and an assortment of other dolls and stuffed animals. (So far, the only discipline problem has been grandpa, who persists in talking without first raising his hand!)

Example 7: Characters
Just like we made the very real Emmas character traits into a Wordle, we can take fictional characters and wordle (now declaring this as a transitive verb!) them, too. My audience members have suggested making a Wordle for each of the leading characters in a novel or play. Posters for Romeo and Juliet could be placed side by side. Do opposites attract, or do they share some common traits and values? What about fairy tales with good and bad witches, evil queens and Snow White princesses? Or characters who start out black and white but evolve to be more complex by the end of the story, e.g., the Vicomte de Valmont and Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, or Jean Valjean and Javert in Les Misrables? Or take any movie the students have seen and wordle the characters, big stars in bigger words, bit players in smaller words. Assign different colors for the good guys and the bad guys. Again, characters that are not just caricatures may have a combination of good and bad characteristics. They could end up with colors more mottled than solid! Friend and colleague Jerome Burg who spent thirty years as an English literature teacher at Granada High School in Livermore, California contends that Wordles might offer a visual revelation in works of literature where the main characters manifest a combination of good and evil. Two stories popularly taught in U.S. high schools are The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Jeromes basic essay topic for The Great Gatsby was frequently: How great was Gatsby? Do you think he deserves the adjective great or not? (A case can be built for both positions.) A Gatsby Wordle might have vices colored in red, virtues in green, and questionable behaviors in yellow. The colored Wordle could illustrate the essay, along with quotations and other evidence to support the students contentions.

For Catcher in the Rye, Mr. Burg had the students choose one of the following premises from which to build their final essay: I know Holden deserves some compassion, but he is really annoying! I know Holden can be really annoying, but he deserves some compassion. Students would read the first chapters and begin to list adjectives that they believed to best describe Holden. In class, they would discuss the adjectives and try to justify the list with evidence from the chapter(s) read. A case could be built that Holden was a cynical liar; a case could be built that Holden cared more about others than anyone else in the chapter. As they continued to read through assignments, they would repeat the collecting adjectives conversation. Jerome would ask the students to imagine the good and bad adjectives on either side of a balance scale. They would not be asked if their opinion had changed from good to bad, or bad to good, but rather if the scale had tilted in one direction or another after reading each assignment. The list of adjectives could be put into a spreadsheet with the frequency also noted. At the end, it could be pretty exciting to create the Wordle. Holden would not come out all red (bad) or all green (good), but would one color dominate? Would the larger (high frequency) words be more in one color than the other? As Jerome (who can never resist a pun) put it: With the Wordle, at least students would see that the characters are not black and white.

Example 8: Definitions
Of course, Wordles could display synonyms for commonly used words and provide a good resource for student writing. But lets take that a step further. What about those numinous words that are more challenging to define? The words that Professor Gerald Grow from the School of Journalism, Florida A&M University, contends are worth 1,000 pictures:

We could wordle a selection of these words as food for thought, or we could choose to focus on one or two words at a time. Why not start with everyones favorite four-letter word (after FREE, that is): love. Ive often suggested that

schools create photo walls for these important-to-define words. The teacher could start by offering the first image for love, as I do with my audiences.

The rose knows that it is loved, because it never has to ask for the dew so tenderly bestowed upon it every new dawn. All the students could contribute digital photographs and explain how those images enrich their understanding and appreciation of love. From those visuals the class could build a slideshow, perhaps accompanied by Itzhak Perlmans rendition of the exquisitely beautiful love theme of the movie Cinma Paradiso. (To quote 19th century poet Sidney Lanier: Music is love in search of a word.) Once the concrete images have been shared, then the brainstorming can begin for the more abstract words to fill a Wordle Love cloud.

Although red is most often the color to depict love (at least passionate love), for those of you who find it difficult to see red against black, I imported the above Wordle image into Photoshop, selected the red color and replaced it with pink. Ah, Wordle plus Photoshop. Now theres a Valentines card just waiting to happen.

*** Hopefully these examples will inspire you to board the Wordle Wagon, to use this fun (and free) tool to create handouts and posters that will complement the videos, projected images, and other visual and sensory stimuli needed to engage your students in the kind of learning that sticks for, during, and, more importantly, after the test. Help spread the love, colors, comparisons, and characters, plus other Wordles that you and your students create. Happy wordling! ***

Postscript
This just (already) in from 100% Educational Videos CEO, Eric Dahm:

Yes, you guessed it. He wordled the article you just finished reading! What he suggested is that a person could write a summary description based on the visual feedback: Wordle is a way for students to create an image with words and use color to explore their relationships. (Using all large words, except the medium-sized create.)

Thanks, Eric.

Looking forward to more of you out there sharing your best Wordles and Wordle ideas. Lynell Burmark www.educatebetter.org lynellb@aol.com