Tried It Tuesday: Autobiographical Wordles and a Giveaway Reminder

It's time to link up with Fourth Grade Flipper for...

... and with Technology Tailgate for ...

This week my fifth graders and I tried Autobiographical Wordles. "What's that?" you say. Why it's a great way to integrate technology with the writing process.

First we reviewed the writing process MY WAY. I add peer conferencing into the standard process that these students have worked with for years. I also explain my writing process clipchart and what we will be doing with it.

And we go over the six traits of writing via the acronym MOVIES.

Next we discuss what makes a great paragraph and the hallmarks of the genre autobiography. Finally, they write an autobiographical paragraph via the writing process. Once I have read and OK'd each paragraph, each fifth grader word processes his/her paragraph and saves it in the class file on the network.

Next I introduce what a word cloud is via Wordle.net. Once the fifth graders are comfortable with this website via my demonstration, they are encouraged to "play" with it independently. Once they are able to maneuver through the Wordle website, I show them how to copy/paste their paragraphs into the Wordle site to make their autobiographical word clouds.

Here are their creations...



And that's what we tried this past week! How 'bout you? Anything technology related? Check out all the great posts over at Fourth Grade Flipper and Technology Tailgate for more fun.
Before you go...

I am happy to offer you the chance to obtain your very own Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener in your choice of color (there is even a pink one available). Just enter the giveaway at this blog post between now and 11:59pm Nov. 27, 2013. On Thanksgiving Day I will announce the winner of the World's BEST Sharpener in a blog post and by email. The winner must have a U.S. mailing address. Good luck!
Happy Teaching, Angela The Teacher's Desk 6