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3/15/2014

Tellagami in the Classroom

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Tellagami is a free app for both IOS and Android devices. With Tellagami, the user creates an avatar and records a message, called a gami, which can then be sent or shared in a variety of ways. Click on the gami to the left to see an example.

Here's how to make a gami. When you first open the app, you are asked to create your avatar. There are just enough choices to personalize the avatar, and you could choose to make your avatar look like like yourself, or another character. Each tine you cick on head choices, the head gets larger, resembling a bobblehead, so that's really fun! You can also choose the main emotion your avatar is feeling.

Your next choice is the background. There are lots of choices in the free app, with even more backgrounds available as in-app purchases of $1.99 each. You could also import an image you have saved in your camera roll or open the camera app to take a picture. Another option is "doodle," where you can draw on top of the image you have selected. One of my favourite backgrounds to add is an image that I have created from another app. The example at the top of this page includes a word cloud I made using the app Word Collage. I've also used Pic Collage to make a pretty cool background. Any time you use more than one app during creation, that's called "appsmashing!"

Now you're ready to record your message. You can choose to record your actual voice, but be careful if you are adding your students' voices, as the gamis are stored online, so you need parent permission to display student work, including recognizable features, online. The messages are only 30 seconds long, which I feel is a limitation of the app, but it does force your students to get to the main idea quickly.

Instead of recording voice, you also have the option of typing your message (limited to 440 characters). When you choose this option, you can also choose the type of voice used by the gami. Kids (and adults) will have some fun with this, and is a great option if you can put your students' work online, but parents don't want their child's voice online.

If you click the image to the left, you can hear the gami from the message I typed above. For this gami, I used the Doodle Buddy app to draw a picture, saved it to my camera roll and then imported it for the background. When you are finished making your gami you have several options for sharing, including adding it to a blog, wiki or website, emailing it, or uploading directly to Twitter or Facebook.

Here are some ideas for using Tellagami in the classroom:

Retell a story.
Create a fictional or historical character and have the avatar introduce himself.
Add it to a report to explain an idea or event.
Explain an addition strategy for solving a word problem.
Recite a poem.
Import it into Explain Everything, iMovie or another app for further appsmashing!
Send a greeting (makes a nice thank you card to a classroom guest).
Describe the setting of a story.
Use the link provided when you email the gami to create a QR Code. Add the QR Code to a published research project.
Speak in French, Spanish or other language!
Draw a diagram for the background and have the avatar explain it.
Add to an digital journal.
Kindergarten grad: When I grow up...

This is a very user friendly app and would make a great addition to any workstation where students are asked to work either collaboratively or independently. If you have any other ideas for using Tellagami, please add a comment below. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas!

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3/6/2014

Word Clouds in the Classroom

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What are word clouds, you ask? Well, the image above is an example. Basically, a word cloud is a visual representation of text. They are lots of fun to create, and I have collected a list of ways they may be used in the classroom:

Have students create an "All About Me", or "My Strengths," using words that describe themselves. Great for self-esteem and to introduce each other on the first day of school. Also great for a lesson on adjectives!
Create a class word cloud as an alternative method of displaying brainstorming words for a new unit.
Students could create a word cloud to demonstrate their understanding of a character in the book they are reading.
They make great gifts! Print them out on glossy paper and frame them. I used this idea for Father's Day one year.
Thank you cards would look great with a word cloud as the illustration on the front.
I have seen examples of French or other language teachers creating a word cloud of famous fairy tales using French words only. Their students have to guess the fairy tale.
Word clouds are a great tool to use when making a presentation or to include in a project that has a lot of text.
Some websites, like Wordle, only print each word once, but each time the word is submitted, the word is displayed larger. This would be a great way to display survey results. The example below shows the survey results to the question: What's your favorite ice cream flavour?

So how does one make a word cloud? I'm glad you asked. I'll start with a couple of websites.

Wordle
This is the first word cloud website I heard of, and I've used it many, many times. It's very dependable, and easy to use.

Go to www.wordle.net.
CLick "create."
Enter the words you want to appear in the word cloud. Each word is treated separately, so phrases may be split up. If you want the words kept together (like first name and middle name, for example) separate them with a ~ instead of a space. Instead of entering the text yourself, if you have the text you want on your computer already (such as a website or document), you can simply copy and paste. I did that for the Wordle below from one of my blog posts.
Click "GO."
Your wordle will be displayed in a new box. Now you get to play!
There are some options at the top of the wordle. Each one affects how the words are displayed. Go ahead and check them out - I think they're self-explanatory.
Under the wordle, you can click "randomize," which suggests layouts, fonts, etc for you.
One slightly annoying thing about Wordle is that you cannot choose to save your image. You can print it as is, but then there is no option to change the size. I usually just take a screenshot (command, shift, 4 on a Mac and alt, prnt scn on PC).

Tagxedo
Tagxedo.com is a website i've only just recently come across. It's so fun! With this website you can make your word clouds into shapes. There are a variety of shapes to choose from, and you can even upload a photo of your own into the site to make one-of-a-kind word clouds. Tagxedo uses the words over and over again, unlike Wordle, and there are many more options to choose from. When your word cloud is finished, you can save as a jpg to your computer, and even order merchandise with the image. Very cool!

To get started with Tagxedo, click "create," then "load." Then enter your text, or copy and paste. Click submit when you are finished (you can edit later if you want to). Again, I think the other tabs are self-explanatory. If you want to add your own shape, click the arrow beside "shape," and click "add image." Be sure that your photo has lots of contrast, or it won't look good.

There are some great IOS apps out there that do the same thing on your iPad.

Word Collage is an app that works much the same as Wordle ($.99 on the app store). WordFoto ($1.99) is similar to Tagxedo in that you upload the picture and the app fills the photo with the words you input. Path On ($1.99) is not really a word cloud. I'm including it because you input a photo and then draw a line where you want the text. Next you input the text and the words follow the line. It's pretty cool too! See the example below of my lazy cat Sammi.

So that's it. That's all I have to say about Word Clouds. Try them in your classroom. Your students will love them!

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Numeracy/Technology

Tellagami in the Classroom

Word Clouds in the Classroom

Lori Emilson

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