BP9_Word sift

The web 2.0 tool I chose for this week is called Word Sift. Word Sift is a program that allows you to immediately connect text to visuals. This is especially useful to second language learners. Basically, you enter a text into the box and click 'sift'. The program then 'sifts' or sorts the words, excluding words like 'and' 'or' but' etc. It then shows you the words on the screen. The bigger the word is, the more times it was used in the text. When you click on a word, a Google images screen shows up with images related to the word. A 'Visual Thesaurus' screen also pops up giving the word, its definitions and new words related to the word.

Word Sift lets you sort the list of words in numerous ways. For example, you can sort them alphabetically or from common to rare. Word Sift also allows you to mark certain words. You can mark words by subject, or create your own list of words that you would like marked. Word Sift takes interaction to the next level by having a workspace where you can click and drag words and images.

Once I figured out how it worked, I immediately saw its value in lessons using short stories. For example, many teachers give the assignment in which students are asked to use words they have learned to write their own story. Students could place their story in Word Sift to get a visual representation of their use of vocabulary. Overall, Word Sift is a great tool for vocabulary building.

(Screen shots are of my sample story in Word Sift)