Tagul

I was working with Wordle today and in my travels happened upon a site called Tagul.  Tagul is now my new favorite word cloud generator.  Wordle has always disappointed me in the fact that you cannot save your image  without having to use print screen.  Tagul offers the ability to save your image, embed your image or even e-mail it to a friend.  What I liked most about Tagul was the amount of editing options that were offered.  I was able to get very finite with the colors fonts, words, and was even able to have the words fit to an image.
Check out this sweet cloud using the Declaration of Independence with the image of the United States

Now What?

There are so many ways to incorporate word clouds into your classroom.  I like the idea of using them as a review or preassessment to find out how much the class knows about something.  You can also use a list of items (prepositions, famous authors, etc.) and create a poster for your classroom walls.

Word Dynamo

If you haven't been to dictionary.com in a while (like me) you will find that it is not your "parent's" dictionary.com.  It has been updated with some intriguing new features such as a reference section, translator, and the exciting new (beta) Word Dynamo.  This looks like a great place for kids of all ages (college & up as well) to work on their vocabulary skills.  I really like that they also have a place for you to build your own vocabulary word lists and then share them with the community or search for other word lists created by others. To set a baseline, you should take the challenge when you first get to the site and then your games are tailored to your level to help you build your brain.  For more info, take a tour of what they have to offer.

Now What?

Word Dynamo is a great place for your students to head after school to review their vocab or work on some new words.  You can even explore words by content or user created lists.  I thought it would be fun for students to take the "Word Dynamo Challenge" now and then again at the end of the school year to see how much their scores increased (hopefully).  You can also use this in your classroom as a transition activity or closure.