Today we tried out a new website called Wordle. Wordle creates a word cloud that represents how frequently a word is used. The larger a word in the word cloud, the more times it was repeated. During ELA today, each student came up with at least five words that come to mind when we think of Chris van Allsburg. We then all sat together and discussed our words that we came up with and why those words came to mind. Our words varied from titles of his books to adjectives that describe him to even words that conjure up thoughts of his earlier years. Below is a Wordle that we created that shows all the words that we came up with. The largest words are words that were the most frequently discussed, while the smallest words are the ones that we discussed the least.
You can click on the image to enlarge it!
What is your favorite Chris van Allsburg book and why?
Dear Mr. Avery,
The wordle is so cool. Those word are very detailed. Chris Van Allsburg was a very detailed writter.
From,
Ariel
This is a great blog! Thanks for the comments on my blog.
Your Friend,
Ethan
Dear Mr Avery,
Chris van Allsburg is very good With books. When I grow up I want to be an author.
Sincerely,
Brendan W.
Dear Mr. Avery,
We shared our book reports and I thought everyone did an amazing job. Mine was the Wreck of the Zephyr. I think most people did the Polar Express. I think that book is one of my favorite Chris Van Allsburg books. My second favorite book is the Widow’s Broom. I mostly like all of his books. Well, I hope you think you all did a great job.
From,
Jenna
Dear Mr. Avery,
Chris Van Allsburg is very talented. My book report is done. The book that I did was The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. But that book is not my favorite. My favorite is Bad Day at Riverbend. My favorite part was when he did the colorful stick figure cowboy! I know that Chris Van Allsburg is very talented at a lot of different things!
Sincerely,
Tristan B.
Dear Mr. Avery,
My favorite book is the Widows Broom. I like it because it is in black and white. I like black and white books because when Chris Van Allsburg does it he makes it look like whatever he is drawing looks like it is happening in real life. That is my favorite Chris Van Allsburg book.My second favorite Chris Van Allsburg is The Wreck of The Zephyr.I like it because he makes it a fake book but he makes it look like it really happened when it really didn’t. Or did it. Those are my favorite Chris Van Allsburg books.
Dear Mr. Avery,
My sister’s favorite book is The Polar Express,
because she thinks it is adorable and cute.
Sincerely,
Natalie and Carly
My dad’s favorite book from Chris Van Allsburg is The Polar Express because he says it has great illustrations and is very detailed.
John (Natalie and Carly’s dad)
My favorite books from Chris Van Allsburg are The Polar Express and The Garden of Abdul Gasazi because they have a lot of detail. They are awesome.
My favorite Chris van Allsburg books are The Widow’s Broom and The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. They have very detailed pictures and I love the problems.
I loved The Polar Express because it is full of magic, wonder, and more! Also, I love the movie and I love Christmas!
My favorite book was The Polar Express because it was made into a movie and it has lots of details.
@Nick – Well thanks Nick! I think it’s great to have you and your brother in fourth grade this year! I’m glad you were both able to get on here to discuss Chris van Allsburg. Make sure to study for that science quiz!
The Polar Express is my favorite book. It is a awesome book because it tells you about Santa and his one thousand elves. Chris Van Allsburg is the best auther and illustrator. He is a fantastic person!
Hi Mr. Avery! You are the most technical person! MR. AVERY ROCKS!
From,
Nick
@Trey – I agree! Jumanji was a great book to start out learning about Chris van Allsburg. I loved that part about the lion too. The book was very different from the movie though!
@Mike – The widow definitely outsmarts her neighbors! She was so clever. She got rid of her mean neighbors and was able to keep a broom that does all of her work for her. I want one of those!
The Widow’s Broom is my favorite Chris van Allsburg book. It is my favorite because the widow tricks her neighbors into thinking that her regular broom is the magic one. I recommend it.
I wasnt here for The Widow’s Broom but I was here for Jumanji. It was great! I love the part when the lion gets stuck underneath the bed. Chris van Allsburg has great ideas and puts lots of details in his pictures.
My favorite Chris van Allsburg book is The Widow’s Broom. I love the way that the widow tricks the mean neighbors to take just a regular broom. I also absolutely love the detail of the pictures in the book. My favorite picture is when the broom is playing the piano and the neighbors are just staring at it. Chris van Allsburg is an amazing artist!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Ariel! We’ll be doing more of these throughout the year so we can see words that we all think relate to the topic we’re talking about! I agree with the class that Chris van Allsburg is very creative and amazing. My favorite van Allsburg book so far is The Widow’s Broom but I can’t wait to read more!
I love our Chris van Allsburg Wordle. It’s very creative. It was cool and fun to do.