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Step-by-Step InstructionsExamples of Word Clouds

Suggestions For How To Use Them

How to Use Tagxedo.com

By Diane Yale-Peabody

Creating Word Clouds in Tagxedo.com

A word cloud is simply a group of words that have something in common, and which are then organized into a shape that reflects the theme of those words.

Want to express your love of horses - write every thing you love about them and put them into the shape of a horse. Want to show every national park youʼve been to - list them and put them into the shape of a U.S. map. Or how about words associated with a season or holiday? Brainstorm a list of words, then choose a bird, springtime flower, Christmas tree, storm cloud, etc. to shape them.

The website Tagxedo.com not only lets you choose your words, it also lets you choose shapes, text colors and background colors, fonts and the orientation of your words - all horizontal, all vertical, or a mix with some diagonals thrown in.

And the best thing about Tagxedo is that itʼs free! Of course you can subscribe to the website and get a lot of bells and whistles. But the free site has plenty to choose from for the student and teacher who want to express creativity, emotion, personality, ideas and artistry.

Once students learn to create a word cloud, theyʼll want to do it all the time. Simply give them the rubric for how to create a word cloud and let them take it home or put it in a folder for use during free periods.

As a teacher you have the benefits of teaching a lesson that• can be done in one class period• be displayed in the hall for others to view and admire• graded for both technology skills and language arts• applied to 4th through 6th grade and even extended to junior high

Here are the technical things youʼll need to know before you begin:1. Using Firefox sometimes works better than Safari as an internet browser.2. Make sure you download Microsoft Silverlight on every computer and keep it

updated (itʼs free and is compatible with Apple computers).3. Plan a lesson where students follow along step-by-step so they donʼt get lost in

Tagxedoʼs many choices.4. Remember to save your work so you can use your word cloud in other projects

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Here are some of the things youʼll want to know about the words in your cloud1. You can choose the words for your cloud 3 different ways

a. words you type inb. words you copy and paste from somewhere elsec. all the words that appear on a websiteʼs homepage, simply by pasting in a URL

for that website2. The words you choose for your cloud will rearrange themselves randomly. So if you

choose to type in a poem, donʼt expect it to read like the original poem.3. If you want specific words to appear close to one another, like the last and first name

of a person, type a tilda instead of a space between the words. (A tilda is the symbol that appears in the shift position on the keyboard just to the left of the #1 key.)

4. Youʼll also have options for omitting common words, identical words, numbers, punctuation, etc.

Here are some of the things youʼll want to know about your graphic design choices. 1. If you explore a lot of the choices in shape, color, font, etc., then decide you liked

one of the choices you clicked on earlier, simply go to the History link and you will see everything you created and you can choose the one you like best.

2. Youʼll also have the option of making your words smaller so more appear in the cloud, or larger so fewer appear in the cloud

The following rubric shows you all of the choices you can make. I would advise creating a simpler rubric for younger students who donʼt need to make some of the choices that are possible.

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TAGXEDO WORD CLOUDS

1.Open the Internet and in the address bar, type in tagxedo.com

2.Click on Create or Start Now

3.Click Load - you now have 3 choices for your words: A. In the field for Webpage, paste in the url type B. In the field that says Enter Text, type in your words. Make sure you leave a space between words. It does not matter if you type them one after the other or if you click return between each word. (Note: if you are using both first and last names or a phrase and you want the words to appear close to each other, you must type a tilda ( ~ ) between the words (itʼs the key left of the #1 on the keyboard). C. In the field that says Enter Text, paste in words copied from somewhere else - like a poemD. Click either the Submit button next to the field for Webpage or for Enter Text

4.Under Options - Word/Layout Options A.Under Word tab

a. Click the Yes or No boxes for including punctuation, numbers, common words, related words, or identical words (I usually click No on all of them.)b. In the Frequency Modifier field, type in the number 20 (Iʼve experimented with lots of numbers and I find this size works best)

B.Under Layout tab a. The Emphasis slider bar makes words the same size (low percentage on the bar) or some big and some small (higher percentage on the bar). (I usually donʼt change the default).b. The Maximum Word Count slider bar limits the number of different words you can include (The default is 200 words so unless youʼre using a lot more words than that, you wonʼt need to reset this bar).c.The Tightness slider bar changes how well your words fill in all the nooks and crannies of your shape. (The 100% default setting works pretty well but you may want to experiment with a higher setting if you have a complicated shape).d.The Normalize Frequency box should be clicked Yes, then change the Spread to 20 e. The check boxes for Hard Boundary, Use Source Color, and Allow Replication should be clicked Yes - this will allow you to see a lot of variety until you make your personal choices.f.The Theme Preference box should be clicked Any so you can see a variety of colorsg.The Font Preferences box should be clicked All so you can see a variety of Fonts - you can always change to just one font later.

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5.Under Options - Shape" Click on the triangle to open the window, scroll through the shapes, and choose " the one you like best.

6.Under Respins A. Theme - (click triangle not circled arrow) allows you to choose colors. Color palettes with a white outline have a white background. Color palettes with a colored outline have a colored background. Note: Colored outlines/backgrounds use a lot of ink.)B. Font (click triangle not circled arrow) - choose fontC. Orientation - (click triangle not circled arrow) choose any; horizontal; vertical; or H/V (experiment to see which you like best)D. Colors - this keeps the same basic colors but varies them slightlyE. Layout - changes shape very slightlyF. If you click the circled arrow, the website will make choices for you - but who wants that? Letʼs be creative!G. Donʼt Click All - it changes everything and you will lose the options you like best

7.Under Options History" You can see all the colored themes, shapes, font, and orientations you have " experimented with. Scroll to the one you like best, click on it, and that is the one " that will appear in the window. The choices under History appear as small " thumbnails. If you canʼt see enough to be sure which one you like, you can go " back and click another one until you find the one you like best.

8.Click Save/Share A. Click on Image Tab B. Choose 2MP (JPEG). (You can experiment with other sizes but I find this one works well.)C. Name your word cloud and save it. D. You can use this jpg in in any document. E. The other Tabs (Web, Print, Thumbnail, Advanced) are options that you will probably not use. Clicking on the Image Tab gives you the best leeway in using the jpeg you are saving.

THATʼS IT - YOUʼVE MADE A WORD CLOUD!

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WHEN AND WHERE TO USE A WORD CLOUD

1. Gifts - seasonal cards for family, friends or service projects like for the military

2. Individual creativity - favorite things, hobbies, family traditions

3. Creative writing - hopes, dreams, and ideas with matching graphic shapes

4. Names - classmates, family members, teachers, famous people in sports, movies,

music, politics, history, book characters, etc.

5. Experiences - places youʼve visited

6. Pictures of words that sound similar to the things reflected by their shape - this is a

good lesson for Language Arts and Music

7. Expressions of emotion - sometimes only one word is needed for this

8. A message you want to send (this works best if you use a tilda instead of a space

between the words of this message)

9. Foreign Language - students can add to their Spanish, French, Latin vocabulary, etc.,

in a fun way.

10.Religion - faith words or holy seasons

11.Post your word clouds in the hallway or the classroom during Open Houses, Parent

Conferences, visits by public officials or during accreditation

12.Have students save word clouds as part of their portfolio of school work - word

clouds can record a studentʼs changing interests and history

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