Using Wordle in AS Macro Teaching

Here is an idea I plan to try with my AS macro groups this week. It makes use of Wordle - the free tool available at www.wordle.net that allows you to create word clouds from text. Simply copy text from a given source (for example a published speech or article) and then paste it into Wordle and it will sift through it and create clouds with the most commonly occurring words in the text. You can then edit the shape, the colours and the font in the cloud and even remove words you don’t like by right-clicking on them. This is a very useful facility because you can spend a few minutes eliminating superfluous words and give greater focus to the core words or concepts.

I plan to hand out the wordle clouds copied and pasted into a Word file. And then get the students to work in pairs. Each student takes one of the wordles (to concentrate, simply fold the A4 handout in half) and studies them for a short while. They will then explain to their fellow student what they thought their article is about.

Each student is then asked to highlight three or four words that they do not understand - we can then discuss them in class and definitions can be added to the handout to support a growing vocabulary in economics.

I will then hand out copies of the original articles headed up by the wordle image so that they have them for their notes.

I am hoping that Wordle’s ability to automatically pick up the gist of any given text will encourage students to get to the heart of an article quite quickly and that students will think of other ways in which Wordle might be used as a classroom and revision tool.

I have attached my word file and links to the original articles - both topical - Charles Bean on getting people to spend more and a recent IMF report on the coalition’s budget policies.

Download the Word file with the two Wordle Images
Wordles_UK_Economy_1.docx