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Cacoo

Page history last edited by Jaimy 11 years, 9 months ago

Cacoo is an easy to use online tool for creating diagrams and charts with the added bonus of "Real Time Collaboration".

After you have created an account you can follow 5 easy steps to get more free sheets or just start new diagram:

Go back to 'Get Started' to get your free sheets.

Click on 'Diagrams' to start a new diagram, work on existing diagrams, go to folders, print templates, or export diagrams.

You can go to 'Settings' to connect to Facebook, Twitter, and Google, add a profile picture, change your user name, change your password or e-mail, make connections, update your plan and more!

When you have started a new diagram:

Go to 'Stencil' to choose shapes to add.

Click and drag any stencil onto the page.

Change the stencil's size. Double click on the stencil to add text.

Click on the 'text' symbol to create a new text box.

Click and drag anything to move it.

Connect stencils by adding lines from the toolbar.

Save diagrams to your desktop by pressing the 'Export' button.

* Make sure to save your diagrams by clicking save in the top right-hand corner*

Still need help? At any time scroll to the bottom of the page and click on 'Home' in the bottom left-hand corner. Click on 'Tour' to find helpful hints, learn about stencils, and tips on how to use Cacoo.

Cacoo Can be used in a variety of ways within reading and writing.

Here are a few suggestions:

Story Map--a reader is assisted in understanding a piece of literature with a visual depiction of major actions, events, characters and setting.
Topic sentence w/ supporting sentences--use a Cacoo.com diagram to differentiate topic sentences from supporting sentences; illustrates the idea of a well-organized paragraph
Pre-write--students can organize their thoughts to write an original story or a different ending to an existing story
Compare two or more books or characters--create a Venn Diagram or use two separate Cacoo.com-created maps
Sequencing of events--timeline; beginning, middle & end
Graphic Organizers--to help support understanding of text
Making Connections--text-to-self (between a text and the reader's personal experience); text-to-text (between a text and what was previously read); text to world (between a text and something that occurs in the world); students can create a Cacoo to visually depict these connections
Character Organization--for compare contrast in the same or different story; to differentiate different characters within a story
Making Predictions--have a student begin a graphic depiction of what has occured in a chapter or a story before they have finished it. Have them come up with a prediction of what will occur next either in the plot or with a specific character

Student Examples:

*First grader's example exploring the website for the first time: Pokemon

*First grader's character profile, using the website a second time: Magic Tree House #25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night

*Sixth grader's summary diagram: The Hunger Games

*Sixth grader's summary diagram, using the website a second time: The Ring Of Fire

*IEP sixth grader's summary diagram: Light on the Graveyard Shoal

Student Concerns:

1. Students found it easy to move stencils, fill them with colors, and add text.

2. Students struggled creating lines between the stencils.

3. Younger students benefited from playing on the website first and using a preexisting templet.

4. IEP student needed more one-on-one interaction while using the website.

5. Students were ask to reflect on their work by using the Smiley stencils on their diagram.

a. Students were happier when they received more assistance during their first use.

b. Encourage students to ask for help and provide a set of directions for them to reference.

6. Students enjoyed using the stencils to make mini characters from their books.

Cacoo is a tool that is also useful in other academic areas of the classroom. The graphic organizers and diagram functions are dynamic tools in the areas of math, social studies, science, managing large projects, storyboarding for use in digital media and computer science. For example, a student could use Cacoo to create a flowchart for steps in solving math problems. Another example is creating timelines for history projects and presentations. Basically, Cacoo is going to provide the most value in learning situations where students are dealing with larger concepts and complex processes.

One of the most exciting features of using Cacoo is real-time collaboration! Students can all work together on projects and share diagrams in the classroom. This ability to collaborate could extend outside of the school to work on projects with other classes in other parts of the country or world. Cacoo allows for real-time chatting with other collaborators as you work together on shared diagrams.

Don't just take our word for it! We've posted several interesting and informative links to check out for yourself. Most importantly, sign up for the free trial and see all the interesting ways you can use Cacoo as a visual and collaborative learning tool in your classroom.