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Word Clouds for Pre-Reading Predictions and Post-Reading Summarization
Details
Activity Description
Preparation
- Check the website to ensure it is not blocked at your site.
- Read through the lesson plan.
- Print and make copies of any handouts.
- Select a level-appropriate text that meets with course outcomes.
How-To
1. Open a web browser to https://www.freewordcloudgenerator.com/. Note: There are several word cloud generators you can choose from. This is a simple one to use.
2. Select the "Free Word Cloud Generator" button.
3. In the text box, copy and paste in the text from a reading passage you will have as part of a class lesson. You can also upload a CSV file.
4. Select from the options on the right:
- Word list shows the total number of words the text has, provides a list of the words in order of most to least frequently used in the text with the number of times the word is used. Select or deselect to remove stop words, numbers, and special characters.
- Select a font style from the drop-down arrow selections.
- Choose a color pallete or customize colors and choose a background color.
- Move the slider to show more or fewer of the most frequently-used words in the text.
5. Select "Visualize" for a preview.
6. Then select download and save the word cloud as a png, jpg, or svg (vector) file to your desktop.
7. Print copies of the word cloud image file for students to mark on (or if you teach synchronously online, have the image file ready to display with options for annotating on the screen).
Example word cloud for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech:
More Ways
There are numerous ways word clouds can be used:
- ice-breakers and introductions
- listing brainstorm ideas have a visual of commonalities
- reflections and feedback
- character and personal descriptions
- and many others
Program Areas
- ABE: Adult Basic Education
- ESL: English as a Second Language
- ASE: High School Equivalency Preparation
- ASE: High School Diploma
- AwD: Adults with Disabilities
Levels
- All Levels
- Beginning High
- Intermediate Low
- Intermediate High
- Advanced
Lesson Plan
Select an image that is from the text you are going to read in class or find and display a text that is related to the topic or theme in the text if the text has no images.
Ask students what is happening in the image, noting people, places, objects, and actions.
Tell students that they will read a text in class that is connected to the image but before reading, they are going to view some of the most frequently used words in the text.
Show the word cloud (projected) and as deemed necessary, provide students with a printout.
Begin with vocabulary and then move on to content predictions.
1. Vocabulary:
- Ask students to notice which words are the biggest in the word cloud.
- Ask why they are larger than the other words.
- Ask students to notice the smallest-sized words. Why are they small?
- Have students define in their own words the largest words. Provide clarification or examples when needed.
- Ask them to say something about themselves using the words, such as with prompting questions: Have you ever...? Do you know someone who...? Where can we see this? When do we experience this? How does this connect with something else we have read or studied recently/in this class?
- Have students search for word variations (word forms) such as liberty-liberation, for example, singulars and plurals. Students could fill out a table with the different parts of speech for a word (e.g., for "joy" -- joyful, joyous, joyfully). Students could also be assigned to circle nouns, underline verbs, put boxes around adjectives, etc. Then move on to word associations. Ask students if words have positive or negative connotations, and register (formal, informal).
- Have students name or (as applies) draw lines between synonyms and antonyms.
2. Content Prediction:
- Ask students to return to the large words.
- Together (or by asking for volunteers) think aloud what the text could be about.
- Individually or in pairs or small groups, have students write a sentence (or more) predicting the main idea of the text.
- Depending on the student's level, provide feedback on content and mechanics (grammar, punctuation).
- Have each student or group share their sentences.
- Notice and remark on how they used the words from the word cloud and the similarities and differences between the predictions/sentences.
3. Read the text (together or in pairs/small groups or individually) after surveying the text (reading the title, looking over text features such as bold and italicized words, tables, images, graphs, subtitles, first paragraph, last paragraph, etc.) together.
- A helpful metacognitive practice for students is the think-aloud, in which the teacher reads the passage and models the thinking process when reading: predictions, clarifications in comprehension, guessing meanings of unfamiliar words, connections to other texts, and class content).
- The teacher can also model annotation of a text, particularly marking the most frequent words in the text as revealed by the word cloud.
4. Checking predictions: After reading the text, return to the sentences students wrote predicting the content of the passage based on an analysis of the word cloud. Which predictions were correct? Which need altering to improve them or make them more accurate?
- Students then rewrite the sentences they originally wrote to be more accurate summaries of the text they read.
- Optionally, students can share their summaries with the class and do further analysis.
- Ask students what they learned from this exercise to encourage reflection.
Students will be able to predict content based on key vocabulary and summarize the main ideas using key vocabulary after reading a text.
Subjects
- English Language Arts
- American Literature
- English 1-4
- Literature
- World Literature
- Language Arts - Reading
- Analysis
- Comprehension
- Inference and Interpretation
- Synthesis and Generalization
- Language Arts - Writing
- Organization of Ideas
- Learning and Thinking Skills
- Demonstrate ability to use critical thinking skills
- Reading
- Critical Thinking/Decision Making
- Learning to Learn
- Vocabulary
- Writing
- Basic Sentences
Standards
- Reading
- CCR Anchor 1 - Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- CCR Anchor 2 - Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- CCR Anchor 4 - Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- CCR Anchor 10 - Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
- Writing
- CCR Anchor 4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- Speaking and Listening
- CCR Anchor 2 - Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- Language
- CCR Anchor 2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
- CCR Anchor 3 - Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
- CCR Anchor 4 - Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
- CCR Anchor 5 - Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
- CCR Anchor 6 - Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Tags
Tools
Creative Commons License
