Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ddeubel]

I've been developing a new vocab game called What the Wordle

Wordle is a great way to present vocab. to students or get them to present/make their own. http://wordle.net

Get the worksheet for this game and the much larger ppt with the thinking song - in our Games section of Resources on EFL Classroom 2.0. I think it is a great game to play with students and I'll be loading up a few more games like the above soon...

Comments appreciated on how to make this better.

DD
http://eflclassroom.com
http://teachingrecipes.com

[lifeinkorea]

What is it? I clicked on one of the recent submissions and it shows an image with random words in all directions.

I suggest you explain what the point of the site is (besides just the obvious "vocab" building) and how to use it.

[ddeubel]

lifeinkorea,

What would YOU as a teacher do with it. Let's start there. No spoon feeding allowed

Vocabulary is necessary and this is a fun way to present but yeah, you are right -- the proof is all in the pudding. How do you make yours?

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[andrewchon]

I think this could be a replacement for the traditional word search. My students do word searches when given but finds them boring at times. Some strain their eyes doing the traditional word search.

[lifeinkorea]

[Whistleblower]

This would a good start for introducing vocabulary with a song. I would create some vocab from some lyrics, generate the Wordle and then get students to try and put vocabulary into order.

Perhaps, even before introducing the vocab. get students to listen to the song and get them to write any words that they hear from a song, handout the Wordle to accompany anything they have written and then ask students to recreate the lyrics.

This would be a pretty intensive lesson for teenagers/adult learners but mighty rewarding.

Any other ideas out there?

My Wordle is here: http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/1040869/Random_Dancing_Queen_Lyrics

[Whistleblower]

Just a new idea; you could get some common Newspaper Headline Vocab. and then get students to create their own Newspaper Headlines together with a small story. This would inspire creative writing. I shall get this new Wordle up for Newspaper Headlines soon.

[ddeubel]

Great ideas so far! And that's key, getting students to make their own wordles or from the prompt of a wordle (which because of its "cool" factor gets their attention - our students are primarily visual learners these days), interact/use the vocabulary on the wordle in a productive (speaking) fashion.

So many possible ideas. One is Indian Poker

Or just get the students to see how many additional vocab. items they can add! Points for each one.

Others might be simply printing out the wordles onto a sheet (get the ppt on EFL Classroom and click File - Print Preview - Print - select page # - enter). Then students do a guessing game. First teacher describes the word/thing and the first group to guess wins a point. Use your powerpoint pen to erase the word (just right click while in the power point presentation and choose your color of pen). Continue. Then students do the same afterwards in groups or pairs.

Another way is to do a survey using the vocab. Give students a slip of paper. They make a question using the teachers guided writing prompt on the board. For example, for animals.... Have you ever kissed/killed/seen/touched/played with a/an ......? Write yes/no underneath. Students do the survey and report back to the class. Most/many/some/a few / none OF US HAVE .......

Also use a wordle to get the students to categorize the vocabulary and use their thinking skills. Give them the criteria or brain storm it . Then students make a chart. Vocab on the Y axis and then fill in the categories.
For animals - might be - # of legs / diet / habitat / special features.
But even just get them to do it themselves.

Also MANY writing activities. Put up a guided writing prompt and get them writing sentence. then share with the class

A / An ....... is ...... er / more ..... than a / an .....
As ......... as a .................
A ....... is not like a ......... because.............

etc....

Lots of ideas on Teaching Recipes like this too. Get the Large version of the above wordle here http://eflclassroom.com/flash/whatthewordlelarge.swf

Cheers,

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[lifeinkorea]

[Whistleblower]

Another activity that I have thought of whilst having a dump was to have a set of topics on the Wordle and then get students to think of their own questions on those topics. Perhaps get a student up to the whiteboard with a picture of someone behind them and then they have to improvise with the questions being asked with the Wordle being a prompt for questions/answers.

Just another idea.

[ddeubel]

HERE is a little more difficult What the Wordle.

Powerpoint forthcoming but I thought it would be fun to show how teachers can use this in Picasa.

Cheers,
DD
http://eflclassroom.com
http://teachingrecipes.com

[ddeubel]

Lots more What the Wordles and this one is displayed using Picasa. Get the ppts on EFL Classroom and even play using the worksheet. Either guess the category or show a category and have students brainstorm vocab lists. Each one matching the slide gets them a point. First to 20 points wins!

Cheers,

DD
http://eflclassroom.com
http://teachingrecipes.com

[Whistleblower]

ddeubel you have some really interesting ideas for the use of these in the classroom. I really wish I had an interactive whiteboard in the school that I taught. Unfortunately, I am pretty much in the stone age here in the UK.

I have used the Wordle in the classroom and it was refreshing for the student to see something that they could use as a vocabulary refresher at the end of class.

Just an idea with the use of PPT in the classroom. You could have a Wordle slide setup and then get the slide covered. Get some application whereby you show a little bit of the powerpoint with the use of a flashlight app (showing only a small circle from the slide - which shows some of the vocab; do this for a short period of time) and then get students to write down any vocabulary that they noticed. Form a pyramid discussion on vocabulary and then finally show the slide to the class. A nice little activity.

[ddeubel]

Whistleblower,

We are thinking along the same lines. I've had a massive amount of traffic to my blog about this idea. Also, using it not to guess the wordle but just put up the category and get students to brainstorm for a minute. then check and they get points for each matching word to the wordle list (or you could give double points for those not on the list but valid!).

I got a PM from Korussian , the guy who designed Teaching Recipes and he wants to develop something along your lines. Just click a subject/category and the wordle comes up/or the title comes up. Full screen for teachers to use. Also, instantly printable in different sizes and formats (like you can with the teaching recipes). so stay tuned...takes time....

But thanks for the feedback. I'll be posting up some more next week when I'll have a little more time.

Cheers,

David
http://eflclassroom.ning.com
http://teachingrecipes.com

[Whistleblower]

ddeubel some great ideas are coming out now and I really enjoy following your posts (even though I am currently teaching in the UK). I was walking back to the Teacher's Room today and I had the Wordle sheet in my hand. I came up with a great idea.

Remember the old Treasure Hunt games (where you can get students to look for objects, etc in the park, around the shool, etc). Well have a Wordle print out for students and students have to walk around the school (say for 15 to 20 mins) and look for the words on the Wordle. That would get them out of the classroom, getting some freshair (and hopefully decent weather) and get some competitiveness instilled (always good). Just another way you could use the print out but it takes some preparation to get the vocab stuck around the school before your class starts.