Mr. Salsich's Class
Third Grade Explorations in Learning
Class Wordle 2012
The other day we created a Wordle. A wordle is made from a bunch of text that is entered into a program that arranges the words into different colors and shapes to make a design. The more times a word appears in the text, the bigger the word gets in a wordle.
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We decided to experiment with wordles by combining our names with the answers that we wrote to these questions:
What word would you use to describe our blog?
What word would you use to describe our classroom?
What word would you use to describe your classmates?
What is the most interesting thing in the classroom?
What is your favorite classroom subject?
What has been your favorite activity so far?
What was your favorite read-aloud book?
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When we entered all the text into a wordle this is what we got!
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(Click on the image to see it in full size.)
As you can see; awesome, fun, marble-maze, coyote, and reading were written down the most!
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May 23rd, 2012 at 2:18 pm
Good idea! What a simple way to gain a bit of feedback! Here are three words for your next wordle!
Inspiring
Engaging
Thought-provoking
Mrs M
A Room with a View, UK
May 23rd, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich
I really like how you put all our names and other stuff together and it was neat to see all the colors. Plus, it was pretty cool to see fun so big.
I don’t really have a favorite book that we read, but I like math because it is fun to learn all the strategies. Our classroom is really fun because we get to make the coyote and it is very fun to find everything you hide all around the room.
From,
Jackie
May 23rd, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Dear Students,
I have loved reading your blog all year long! It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen by a class — especially a class of 3rd graders!
My word to describe your blog is “FUN”.
I’m sad to think the school year is almost over, and soon I won’t be able to see any new posts on your blog.
I do have a request: Could my fiancé and I come to your classroom sometime to see the coyote? Ask your teacher (he’s my son) if we could come, and we will set up a visit.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Salsich
May 23rd, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I think the most interesting thing in our classroom is…almost everything! But my favorite is the desert. It’s cool because not very many classrooms have one. Also, it is cool because you can see the different animals that live in the cactus. I like the coyote, jackrabbit, gila monster, and the rattlesnake too!
I would say that our blog is fun because there is a new, interesting post almost every day with interesting comments.
Your student,
Braedon
May 23rd, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
That wordle was fun because fun was like this big: FUN!
This is what I wrote down for my answers the questions for the wordle:
1. Fun
2. Awesome
3. Different
4. Coyote
5. Cursive
6. BFG
Also your blog and your wordle are great (AWESOME)
From,
Brian G.
May 23rd, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I think the people who said fun are right because I said fun, fun, fun! I think you are an awesome teacher! Some fun things we did over the year are the marble maze, the tail trail, the mathelete shows, the coyote, and hiding Spiderman, the monkey, and all the other objects around the room. I also think our room is pretty cool because you don’t come across a classroom with a giant cactus and a life-size coyote very often.
Some interesting things in our classroom are:
the monkey,
Spiderman,
that stone guy,
the cactus and the coyote,
and the mascot monkey riding on the elephant’s back.
I also like our blog. It’s very interesting and funny. Here are some words to describe it:
creative
one-of-a-kind
amazing
awesome
and humorous.
How did you think of the idea for the mathelete show?
This dosen’t have to do with anything, I’m just curious: Why do bananas grow on trees?
Sincerely,
Maura
May 24th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Dear Maura,
What a wonderful comment! Thank for saying that you think I am an awesome teacher. I feel very lucky to be teaching, and I try to improve every day, so it’s great to hear that you think I’m doing a good job. (It’s easier to be a good teacher with amazing students like you!)
Your questions are excellent. Here is how I came up with the idea for the Mathlete Show: Three years ago I had a student who was very good at math and was also crazy about sports, so I thought I could combine his two interests and I started giving him math challenges based on sports facts. He enjoyed working on them, so we decided to film him explaining the math. Then we spiced it up a little by making it like a news report. After that, other students wanted to be in the show, and that’s how it started… Here is the first episode of the Mathlete Show.
Your second question, “Why do bananas grow on trees?”, is a marvelous thing to wonder about. First of all, bananas don’t actually grow on trees. Banana plants are the world’s largest perennial herb (which means they are a kind of flower that regrows from the roots every year). They are related to canna lilies and bird of paradise flowers. The banana plant can grow to be 25 feet tall and the leaves can be 9 feet long!
To really answer your question, the plants need to be tall and strong (like a tree) because the bunches of bananas can be extremely heavy! When I lived in Belize a lot of my friends and neighbors had banana plants on their farms in the rainforest. We would cut the bunches off the plants when the bananas were still green and then we had to carry them 5 miles back to the village on our bikes. They were heavy! Some of the bunches probably weighed 50 or 60 pounds! It was hard to balance them on the handlebars of the bikes (once I tipped over and crashed.)
So, that is why bananas grow on giant stalks that look like trees. One last thing about banana plants – they aren’t hard and woody like a tree, but are soft and juicy, kind of like a giant stalk of celery.
Thanks for the magnificent comment!
From,
Mr. Salsich
May 24th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I think the wordle is a great way to show what is on your mind. If I were to make a wordle, I would probably use the words: Remarkable, Amazing, and Fantastic. I would use these words because these are the words to discribe myself. Another thing I would say is the most interesting thing in the classroom is spiderman and my favorite read-aloud would be Winn-Dixie.
Your friend,
Joseph
May 24th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I would describe our blog as creative. I think our blog is creative because we did so many cool projects like the marble maze or the cameleon thing where we had the blowers and we tried to knock down the cup. I think the most interesting object in the class room is SPIDER MAN! I think spider man is interesting because once in while spider man moves around the class room. Right now spider man is spinning his webs. I think the wordle is AWESOME! I think it is awesome because the word fun is this big: [FUN]
Your Friend,
Anthony
May 24th, 2012 at 7:57 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
Fantastic Class Wordle Post! I could really see that a lot of people said fun because it was the biggest word in the wordle. If I could write some more words they would be Remarkable and Amazing. Also, my favorite read aloud book is still being decided in the final battle in my head between Shiloh and Winn-Dixie. I will write back when the battle is over and won.
I do have 2 questions: 1.What is your favorite read aloud book?
2.What is, in your opinion, the best word in the wordle?
Your student,
Joey
May 28th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Dear Joey,
Once again you have added a wonderful comment to our blog! Thanks for asking me a couple of questions. Here are my answers;
1. It’s such a hard decision to choose a favorite read-aloud book! I think I would have to go with Shiloh because it is filled with suspense, emotion, and adventure. It also has some deep questions to think about, like is it okay to tell a lie (even to your parents!) if you are doing so to protect a living creature?
2. Hmm, my favorite word in the wordle is probably “interesting” because I think that sums up the classroom, our learning, and all of the students.
Have you decided which book you prefer, Shiloh or Because of Winn-Dixie yet?
Your teacher,
Mr. Salsich
May 29th, 2012 at 11:44 am
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I love your class wordle. I can still see my name in it since you have another Taylor in your class this year. The class wordle is right, your classroom is FUN!!! and AWESOME!!! I miss Perezoso, he is so cute! I remember when we did our class wordle last year.
When you have a chance visit my blog even though I haven’t posted something new for a while…
Have a great rest of the year!!
Best Wishes,
Taylor S.
May 30th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
The wordle is so cool! I did it and I put Sophia, Family, Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother and lot`s more. I can`t wait to do anther one it is really, really, really… FUN! And I hope that Maura and Shea do one too!
Your favorite student,
Sophia