I came across https://bubbl.us/ through a general web search on Web 2.0 tools. This tool is used for brainstorming your thoughts in a web format. You start with a topic and branch off from there to lay out and organize your thoughts. You are able to move each individual bubble to where you want it or move the entire web. You can make the web look anyway that you want, but I did find it frustrating at times when I went to move a bubble and it moved itself where I didn't want it. Overall, though, I found this site to be very easy to work with and user friendly. You can brainstorm ideas without an account, but you need to be logged in to save your work. It's free to sign up!
My class just finished reading stories about the rainforest. We worked on visualizing during reading. Students used their five senses to create a mental image. Here is an example of my brainstorming web about the rainforest.
Hey Stephanie, this is really cool. I like how you can color code the bubbles to make it more kid-friendly to read. It reminds me of the "rapid fire" feature on Inspiration, which is an application on the Howard County Macs. It's great when we're beginning a new writing unit and it a super visual to get students thinking and developing their ideas. At the beginning of the year, I use this application whole group to web different topics that students can write about. I print out the web for the students and they keep it in their writing journals to refer to all year!
ReplyDeleteI was also reminded of rapid fire on Inspiration. I find rapid fire to be frustrating because it isn't easy to change the font size. My students tend to have trouble reading what it written on the screen. I haven't used this tool before, but I wonder if it would solve the font size problem I have. I'll have to check it out!
DeleteI used this program this year for warm ups. Even though I could easily make a web on the board, the students find it neat when you do it on the computer. Mine were telling me where to put things and really got involved in brainstorming because of the technology aspect. Love it!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a useful tool to work on class brainstorming and general idea sharing. I played with the tool a little and like it very much. I'd have to play with it a bit more to see if I can make it mirror the Thinking Map graphic organizers that Anne Arundel County requires teachers to use with students. I did find a site called MindJet but it requires me to download a file which is out of the question on school computers. I'm going to take a closer look at this tool when I have more time. I'm optimistic about its potential for student use. It does bring to my attention the mismatch between very specific learning tools and systems adopted by the county and available web 2.0 tools. Of course the company that created Thinking Map probably has a tool that you have to get a schoolwide license to download and use. Thanks for sharing this tool. I'm going to investigate it further.
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