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Step 4 - Classroom Use Word walls are used to emphasize the important vocabulary in a unit of study.. A teacher-prepared Wordle can be used to initially introduce vocabulary needed for a unit or to prepare students to predict the content of a chapter. Below is a sample Wordle from a social studies unit on Immigration in the 1800's. The text that was used was taken from the textbook chapter files available through the social studies department. By just copying and pasting from the document, the following Wordle resulted:

Because the most used words in the article, were 1800's, United, States, people, immigrants, and American, those words tended to stand out the most. There are a few tricks to getting your Wordle to contain the vocabulary you really want to have displayed. Judicious use of these hints can also help differentiate the vocabulary for different levels. 1. By using the find and replace function of your word processing program, you can delete the words you do not want to be so noticeable. 2. You can use the ~ between words you would like to have appear together. In this case, United States and Ellis Island 3. You can mulitple copy specific vocabulary words you would like to appear more prominently in your Wordle 4. You can set the maximum number of words display to a lower number than the default (which is 150 words) Using these tips, the following Wordle resulted:

Click on the discussion tab at the top of the this page. Add your thoughts about how Wordle could be used as a vocabulary tool in the classroom. Step 5 on the left is a place for your to add any instructional Wordles you were able to develop. Don't forget to add a brief description when you contribute to step 5.