Tagxedo

     (psst... click me!)

a FREE website which converts words of any form: poems, speeches, journal articles, scriptures and so many more; into visually appealing word clouds. All the work is done in real time, which is a great way for quick results. You are able to share to Facebook, Twitter, save as images, or create gifts directly from the site. 

Look how easy it is to use

Credit to: Tiffany Whitehead (Tech Tuesday) 

So... you just make images out of words?

You can do so much more than just make pictures with Tagxedo. In fact, according to Hardy Leung, there are at least 101 different things you can do in the classroom with Tagxedo.

Here are a few of Leung's amazing ideas from his blog...

Self Portrait- to be used in learning self advocacy, English (vocabulary, poems, descriptive words)

Make a class Tagxedo - a beginning of the year activitiy, back to school night, class rules and regulations

example: students in ET449 spring 2013

Expanding your vocabulary - used as a fun way to express the new vocabulary learned from the current story used

example: vocabulary words from Charlotte's Web

Prior knowledge (start class discussion) - brain storming for many content areas - science (food webs); chemistry (connecting families of the periodic table of elements); history (family cultural background)

example: activating background knowledge on trees

How much is this going to cost?

ZERO! Tagxedo is essentially free of charge to use, and you have full access to over 30 themes, fonts, and shapes. You have the ability to create custom gifts (shirts, mugs, mouse pads, canvas bags, etc) directly from Tagxedo's site (it links you to zazzle.com) The price of the items vary based on your Tagxedo creation and item being purchased.

"Teach-nology" of Tagxedo in Special Education

Special education does not have its own set of standards, as students who receive special education services are required to meet the same standards as their peers. This being said, Tagxedo can be used across the standards, and modified to fit the needs of the subject, project, and student. Three major skills Tagxedo addresses are:

Literacy (Visual) - allows students to recognize, interpret, and understand information presented through objects/symbols.

Language Skills- allows students to improve and enhance vocabulary through use of various linguistic expressions.

Creativeness- allows students to refine, analyze, elaborate, and evaluate ideas to improve and maximize efforts.

Thinking outside the box...

additional sites with ways to incorporate Tagxedo into lesson plans, fun projects/activities, lessons and help for educators, modifications and adaptations, and advice from other educators:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/09/tagxedo/
http://blog.tagxedo.com/
http://artlessonsforkids.me/2012/01/19/6-great-ways-to-use-word-clouds/
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/2256258/art-lessons-for-kids
http://digitalarttutorials.blogspot.com/2010/07/making-silhouettes-and-tagxedo-art.html
http://www.scoop.it/t/technology-lessons-4-teachers-language-arts-resources/p/2527604661/storybird-artful-storytelling?tag=tagxedo

http://www.gallitzvi.com/2/post/2012/07/3-ways-to-use-tagxedocom-with-your-class.html

http://spectechspecedu.blogspot.com/2012/10/tagxedo.html