Words as Art

If you'd like to explore a new way to illustrate the beauty in words, then you might like to make a Wordle!  Wordle is a program that creates "word clouds" from text.  It's free, easy to use, and accessible at www.wordle.net. 

To create a Wordle, simply choose a set of words to import, and then select an arrangement, font, and color combination you like the best.  If a word is repeated within your imported set, it will appear larger in the resulting word cloud, so it's fun to experiment with different combinations.  I'm finding that Wordles have endless applications, especially in the classroom.

You can import any set of words into Wordle: a favorite poem, a speech, a story.  Here is a Wordle of the U.S. Constitution:

In September, I asked fourth and fifth grade students in room 15 to complete a questionnaire (inquiring about themselves, their hobbies, favorite books, etc.,) then entered their responses into the Wordle program.  I think you'll agree that the results appear as varied and distinctive as the students themselves.

It was a great "get to know each other" activity, and the students had fun reading each others' Wordles when we put them on display in the classroom.

The activity had a slightly different purpose last year in Kindergarten, when I created individual Wordles as a farewell gift for the students at the end of the school year.





For the Kindergarteners, in addition to their questionnaire responses, I included words and phrases that they had used during the year in class. The result was a personalized Whole Language resource of meaningful words that they could practice reading over the summer. 

To see other Wordles, and to make one yourself, go to www.wordle.net.  You can print or save your creations, or choose to share them online in the Wordle gallery.

Try it out, and let me know what you think!