SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
bp7_2009112_webtool2
An educationally useful tool I came across while browsing the Visual Thesaurus is VocabGrabber. VocabGrabber is a Web 2.0 tool that extracts useful vocabulary from any text, sorts it into meaningful categories, and provides users with definitions and links for each word.
A user can copy and paste any text into the VocabGrabber's text box and simply click "Grab Vocabulary". Almost instantly, a text cloud will appear listing all of the vocabulary words that VocabGrabber extracted from the text. In addition, users will see a graph of relevance, and the number of words in each "category". On the right hand side, users can see definitions and related words for a chosen word, as well as in-text examples of the word.
The educational uses for this tool are limitless. Teachers can enter the text from an article or chapter and know exactly which words they should teach students explicitly. Students can also use this tool to help clarify difficult vocabulary in texts they read independently. A good summative activity for a unit would be to take the word list and convert it into a Wordle to use for studying purposes.
I also think that teachers could use this tool to increase student confidence. Many of the words that VocabGrabber suggests would be words that students are already familiar with and use regularly. Having a legitimate source to validate their knowledge would be incredibly powerful for students, especially those who are struggling readers. I look forward to using VocabGrabber in the classroom and helping students isolate vocabulary and understand its relevance.
Posted by Lindsay at 9:52 PM
2 comments:
Erin said...
Lindsay, this site seems to be a real gem, and one I hadn't heard of before. I will definitely be using it in my music classes as we work on content area literacy. When you get into the real vocabulary of music, we have lots of big, confusing, words, and I'm hoping that use of this site will help my student decode some of the difficult vocabulary that they stumble upon. I also am excited to recommend this site to other teachers in my building. Thanks for sharing!
November 13, 2009 7:23 PM
jsibley said...
Lindsay-
I haven't heard of this site, but it looks much better than the visual thesaurus and dictionary, I've used in the past. I can't wait to have my students try it. We work on vocabulary all the time. Anything to break up the monotony and make it more fun and exciting. Gotta reach those kids that just aren't getting it. Thanks Lindsay!
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