Word Art generators are great online tools for brainstorming, building vocabulary , and even to showcase a theme or concept. There are so many ways that teachers can use word clouds for teaching tools and for students to create and practice learning. Here are ten ideas how you can use word art generators in your classroom for in person learning and remote learning.
1. Partner Sentence Creators – This activity is for partners of two only. Each pair will read the word art and write 5 separate sentences which must include the words within the word art. Students will share their sentences with the whole class.
2. Group Sentence Creator – This is an expansion of the partner sentence activity, however in groups of four or five depending on the class size. Here’s the catch, the rules change. Shorter rounds, longer sentences, longer exercise, and more vocabulary words. The team with the most vocabulary words in each sentence created will win. Of course, once you use a word, it can’t be used again.
3. Story Time – This is an individual assignment. Each student will be assigned to write me a personal narrative (fiction or nonfiction) about their life, or a character’s life they made up. The students are expected to use 30 out of their 50 vocabulary words in the narrative.
4. Missing Words – This is another at-home assignment. I will be giving all my students the SAME exact vocabulary word chart except they will be missing a few words. Their assignment is to figure out what words are missing. But this is not from the original list, this is using their minds and seeing what similar words they can come up with.
5. Vocabulary Review – Use the word generator to review vocabulary.
6. Vocabulary Introduction – Use the word generator as a way of introducing a unit. For example, I would hand out a list of terms at the start of the unit and then students take a guess how the words are related or connected. Additionally, one could ask students to look up the definitions and create a word cloud. Students are to use a minimum of 15 terms.
7. Year Long Goals – At the start of the school year, have students create word clouds to illustrate what they hope to learn in the new school year. This can be an independent activity or a collaborative small group activity. Students are to use a minimum of 20 terms. This would help set the tone for the year and establish classroom norms.
8. Final Assessment – At the end of the year, assign a final project in which the students are to use 50 words to create a word cloud. The 50 words they use are to be a culmination of everything they have learned. What words stuck with them? What words were the most memorable?
9. Biography or Theme Generator – Students create a word cloud of the biography of a famous author, scientist, mathematician, or figure in history. Similarly, students can create word art representing themes in a book or text.
The Teaching Factor 