#5 WORDLE description

http://www.wordle.net/
Wordle.net is a tool that allows you to create graphic representations of any text according to its word occurrence. You just copy and paste the text you want, or you can specify an URL. Wordle will then analyze the text and create the graphic according to words' frequency; those that are more frequent will be given a bigger size. You can then change the colours, word orientation and the form of your 'cloud of words'.
In order to use this tool you don’t need to create an account.

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How to use it
1.Once you have entered the site, you click on create.

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2.Then you are required to ‘paste in a bunch of text’, to enter the URL in which the text appears or just type a del.iciou.s user name to see your tags and use one of those. Once you are done, you click on GO.

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3.The tools itself will create the ‘cloud of words’ for you. But then, you are given the option to change the text you have already chosen, the language, the font, the layout and the colour.

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4.As soon as you are happy with your work, you can open it in a new window to see how it looks, print it or save it to public gallery. If you choose the last option, you will be required to give your ‘cloud’ a title, a username and a description of your creation.

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5.Finally, your creation will be saved. Once this is done, the site gives you an embed code to insert the ‘cloud’ in other websites. You will still be given the possibility to print it out.

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Why I find this tool useful
This tool allows you to use it in many different ways with your students. Of course, as it is really easy to be used, your students will find an interesting tool that they will be able to apply to different activities.
-You may ask your students to write a description of themselves and create their own clouds. When all of them are ready, you can encourage learners to identify each other from the cloud.
-If you are willing to work with a particular story, you can create a cloud for it and ask your students to make predictions about what the story is going to be about.
-You can bring different clouds into the classroom for discussion on interesting topic. Then, you may ask your students to write a paragraph on the results of that discussion and create their own clouds.
-You students can create clouds out of topics they have researched on and tell you about it taking into account words’ prominence.
-It is an useful tool for your students to practice what they have learned. They can create clouds on the different topics and use them to trigger their knowledge on the subject.