Freeology.com

Short Story Overview

Admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:47:46 +0000

Plan a short story with the setting details, point of view, characterization, genre, and a graph of the plot.

8 Ideas for Using Wordle in the Classroom

Admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:04:37 +0000

Wordle.net creates these colorful, attention grabbing graphics from word lists you supply. This wordle image was created from a list of springtime words, but there are many possibilities. Here are a few suggestions for using word clouds in the classroom.

Create a word cloud as an anticipatory set to introduce a unit. Use it to start a discussion.
Have students create word clouds about themselves and share with a partner or with the class. After printing them, post on the wall and have students guess whose is whose.
At the end of the year, have each student contribute a word. Then create a word cloud that tells the story of the year.
Create a word cloud for the weekly vocabulary list. Show it on the overhead screen and play the flyswatter review game. (1. two students holding fly swatters stand with their backs to the screen 2. teacher says a word definition 3. the first student to turn around and swat the correct word gets a point for their team)
Write a poem from a word cloud.
Post the class rules by making a word cloud with positive character traits (see sample below).
Teach an art lesson. Why are some word clouds more appealing? Discuss design principles.
Create a test review and define all the concepts in the cloud.

Here some examples:

This was created from the entire text of Romeo and Juliet.

These words are from a Dolch sight word list for third graders.

Positive character traits for in the classroom.

Tips:

How to save your finished wordle project:
These examples are screenshots take from the finished design. I clicked the Open in Window button and then took a screenshot. There are also options for printing or saving to the public gallery on wordle.net.
Customizing the design:
Play with the Layout, Font, and Color settings in order to make it easier to read. You can right-click on a word to remove it. Under Layout there is a “Prefer Alphabetical Order” that would be useful at times.
Have fun, and feel free to share any other ideas for using wordles for learning.

Critical Reading Questions

Admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:51:07 +0000

Careful reading involves asking questions. Use this worksheet to answer the questions Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How as you read.

Vocabulary Organizer

Admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:03:45 +0000

Write the word, synonyms, antonyms and associations. In the associations box put pictures or concepts that help you remember the definition.

Cause Effect Tree Chart

Admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:57:39 +0000

Explore the consequences of an event by writing the cause in the box near the roots of the tree. Then write the effects in the boxes in the branches. This could be used in history, science or with the events in a story.

Cursive Alphabet Letters

Admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:52:14 +0000

Print these large cursive handwriting pages, then tape them together to make an alphabet letters banner.

Big Alphabet Letters

Admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:28:51 +0000

This file contains 13 pages with all 26 letters. Print these pages, then tape them together to make an alphabet letters banner.

Puns for Teachers

Admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:30 +0000

A backward poet writes inverse.
Using a broken pencil is pointless.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
The school calendar’s days are numbered.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
Santa’s helpers are subordinate Clauses.
Cross country runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of defeat.
A hangover is the Wrath of Grapes.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Those who gossip have a sense of rumor.
Without geometry, life is pointless.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
The teacher forgot to take attendance. She was absent-minded.
Old math teachers never die, they just become irrational.
When the teacher asked a question the students were all up in arms.
He used to teach computers, but then he lost his drive.
The globe means the world to a social studies teacher.
Math teachers have too many problems.
My science teacher was absent today. He left a note that said, “Gone Fission”.
English teachers never write students off.
The recipe for re-writing and essay involves a lot of shortening.
The music students were out of control. They were all keyed up.
If you leave alphabet soup on the stove, it could spell disaster.
The road to success is always under construction.