VisuWords is a free online graphical dictionary that is an excellent resource for language development and language support. You can type any word into the searchbox or click on Random to view random words defined. The site then searches for related words and then produces a user-friendly diagram. Each node in the diagram is clickable to view a definition of that word or double click on the node to expand the search for that particular term. In the example below I clicked on Random and VisuWords displayed the diagram for “Replicate”. You can see how words and their connections are color coded.
This is where the tool is a really great language instructional resource. VisuWords identifies nouns,
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs by color coding the nodes. In addition, it identifies how the word is related by color coding the link from node to node. VisuWords calls these connections synsets.
A synset is essentially a single concept that is represented by a number of terms or synonyms. Synonyms are words with different spellings that convey the same idea.
Students can utilize VisuWords like a thesaurus or can learn more about derivatives, participles, instances of, and more about a particular word. To fill your browser with the diagram just click on “Fill Browser with Scalable VisuWords”. While you cannot save or export diagrams you create, VisuWords is still a great resource for interactive language development and is ideal for classrooms with interactive whiteboards. Kids have never bene as excited about using a dictionary and studying language!
Filed under: Reading | Tagged: interactive, language, whiteboard
