synonyms – iLearn Technology

Big Huge Thesaurus

November 23, 2009Kelly Tenkely3 Comments2330 views

What it is: Big Huge Thesaurus is a must add to your classroom publishing center. The tag line of Big Huge Thesaurus says it all: “synonyms, antonyms, and rhymes (oh my!)”. Big Huge Thesaurus goes beyond other online thesauruses by giving students a wealth of synonyms (for each part of speech), words that sound like the original word, and rhyming words. When students find a word that they are curious about, they can click the link and it will send that word through the Big Huge Thesaurus.

How to integrate Big Huge Thesaurus into the classroom: If you have classroom computers, set up a writing/publishing center where students have all the resources they need to write. Big Huge Thesaurus should be one of those resources. Students can visit the writing center to add richness and interest to their stories, poems, and other writing. This Thesaurus does an excellent job of breaking down words. Use Big Huge Thesaurus on an interactive whiteboard or projector when learning new vocabulary. Type in the vocabulary word and have students construct its meaning using the synonyms that are generated.

Tips: I learned about Big Huge Thesaurus on Twitter this morning from several of my PLN. If you aren’t on Twitter with other educators, I highly recommend joining and following the fine folks I follow!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Big Huge Thesaurus in your classroom.

Image Chef

July 21, 2009July 23, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3839 views

What it is: Image Chef is a great little web tool that takes words and transforms them into a graphical image. Image Chef is similar in look to Wordle but works a little differently. In Wordle, the size of the word changes based on how frequently the word was used in the text. In Image Chef, the word size doesn’t change based on how frequently it is used in the text. Image Chef takes the words typed in a text box, and displays them in a word mosaic. Image Chef has a variety of shapes and symbols to choose from. Any text entered will be displayed in the shape selected. Registered users can also create their own shapes to display text graphically. Image Chef has the added bonus of graphically displaying text inside letters. The look of the image can be changed by adjusting font, text color, background color, and symbol or initial. Individual words can be highlighted by changing the color and clicking on a word in the mosaic. Word mosaics can be shared on blogs, emailed, printed, or saved on Image Chef.

How to integrate Image Chef into the classroom: Image Chef is a fun web tool for displaying words in new and interesting ways. My favorite feature of Image Chef is the ability to create word mosaics inside letters. This feature would be a good way for students to practice phonics. For example, students could create a letter “a” word mosaic filled with short a words (see my example above). Students could type blends inside of the blend letters, long and short vowel words, r-conrolled words, etc. These word mosaics could be printed out and bound into a phonics booklet for students, or displayed on a word wall. Image Chef mosaics would also be a great way for students to explore synonyms. Students can type synonyms into the text box and find or create an appropriate symbol to represent the words. Image Chef would make for a fun first week of school activity. Students could type in their initials as the shape for the word mosaic. In the text field, they can type in words that represent them. Print these out and display on a bulletin board next to student pictures. For older students, Image Chef could be used to create a large periodic table of elements. Choose the initials that represent the element on the periodic table and type the name of the element in the text box to fill the initials. Create a large periodic table for the classroom with the printed elements.

Tips: I learned about this awesome web tool from a tweet by @njtechteacher, definitely a teacher to follow this #teachertuesday! When you click on the Image Chef Link you will be taken to the Image Chef homepage (the site contains much more than just the word mosaic) To create a word mosaic click on “Word Mosaic” under “Create” in the left column of the website.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Image Chef in your classroom.

Airtight Interactive

August 29, 2007October 5, 2007Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1326 views

What it is: Airtight Interactive is a Flickr connected program that allows students to search a word and see various other words associated with the initial word.

How to integrate Airtight Interactive into your curriculum: Use Airtight Interactive to build word maps for association. When students are given a new vocabulary word, they can create a map using software such as Inspiration with a definition, synonyms, antonyms and the word used in a sentence. Airtight will give students a starting point to understand how words are associated.

Tips: Be sure to search words that students will search before letting them loose on Airtight Interactive. Because Airtight is Flickr connected, pictures aren’t always school appropriate.