Mini Projects

Out of My Mind Word Cloud

Activity Plan- The word cloud could be used to summarize the text by coming up with details about the book and words to communicate the information about the book. The word cloud could be used in class by having students come up with words about the book then create their own word cloud using the software, Wordle, or the teacher could present this to introduce the book.

Lesson- For this lesson, the teacher would have the students read the book Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. Once this is complete, the students would come up with words to represent topics in the book then plug the information into Wordle. Using the advanced option, the students could enlarge topics of the most importance. Also, the students could write a summary of the book then plug the summary into Wordle and it will create a Word Cloud enlarging words that appear more frequently in the text.

SOL (content and technology)

Reading 7.5i Summarize text relating supporting details.

ISTE NETs*T Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

VA TSIP Standards F. Instructional personnel shall be able to use educational technologies for data collection, information management, problem solving, decision making, communication, and presentation within the curriculum.

Reflection

Creating this word cloud was a rewarding experience. I started with an idea to create a word cloud about Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. I thought it would be a great book to summarize as it is a young adult book that can be used for bibliotherapy with middle school aged students.

The technology took a little getting used to. At first, I wanted to create the word cloud by plugging in the entire text into Wordle to see the words that appear to be most important throughout the book. However, I was unable to find a digital copy of the book to plug into the software. I found the book on Google Books but it was in PDF format and therefore it would have been really difficult to change it into a Word Document. Since this wouldn't work, I tried to paste summaries and reviews about the book into Wordle but the words weren't really as closely related as I wanted them to be. I created the Wordle by using the advanced option and plugging in the size I wanted each word to be. After many revisions, I was able to narrow my words to exactly what I deemed necessary for the project. Then I played around with the format to find a format that I thought fit the information.

Overall, this is an interesting technology that I think students would really embrace. A word cloud could be used to simply introduce a book or topic but it could also be used by students to allow them to pick out key words they are interested in or they think are the most important within a book. It would also be interesting to allow students to plug in summaries that they have created about a book and create a Wordle to observe the words that they used most frequently in their summary. Plus, it's an interactive software.

Activity Plan- This Google Trek for the book Peak by Roland Smith could be used to discuss locations in the book. The teacher would assign the first 50 pages of the book to be read by students. Once complete, the students and teacher would summarize the information about the book so far. After the teacher could present the Google Trek to show students where locations from the book are on the map and show the distance that Peak traveled. The teacher would present the Trek to the entire class together then provide the link if they wanted to explore in more depth.

Lesson- For this lesson, the teacher would have the students would view the locations in the book to become acquainted with map skills and location within a literature text. Afterwards, the students would have the task of plotting the locations of the base camps Peak visits during his travels on Mount Everest. The students would summarize the events that take place at each location.

SOL (content and technology)

Reading 7.6k Organize and synthesize information for use in written formats.

ISTE NETs*T Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

VA TSIP G. Standards Instructional Personnel shall be able to plan and implement lesson and strategies that integrate technology to meet the diverse needs of learners in a variety of educational settings.

Reflection

To create this Google Trek, I began by thinking of young adult books that involved a great deal of travel. I thought a map program would help students understand the great lengths that a character travels within a story. I decided to use Peak by Roland Smith because the book takes place in several locations that middle school students may not be familiar with such as Thailand and Nepal. I thought it would be helpful, if using the book in an english or reading class, to help students understand the locations that are discussed within the book.

I started with the idea to use Google Earth. I picked out several locations in the book that I thought would be important to highlight. Peak, the main character in the book, is interested in mountain climbing and therefore the lesson includes information about where some mountains are located as well as his travel. His father is a mountain climber so it also highlights the locations his father has climbed. After toying around with Google Earth for a great deal of time, I realized that the platform just wasn't working for me. I preferred the organization of Google Trek. I created a Trek using the new Google Maps software and decided that wasn't working the way I wanted it to, so I downloaded the content and uploaded it back into Google Maps to use the older software.

In my experience, I have found that many students are fascinated by Google Earth and Google Maps. They are able to explore places that they may never visit. It's like a virtual field trip! Students are able to see outside the school walls by using computers to peer around at the other side of the world.