Language+Arts+Web+Tools+2012

**Language Arts & Web Tools ~ January 2012 ** 

> >
 * **Awesome Highlighter:** this web tool allows users to highlight text on web pages and then gives a small link to the highlighted page. This tool works well for highlighting important information on a web page and for completing research.
 * **Word Cloud Creators: ** these web tools are used to generate "cloud word clusters" from words that the user provides. The generated clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. Users can add preferences for fonts, layouts, color schemes and language. Three such tools are given on this linked page.
 * **Make Beliefs Comix:** this web tool is used to create "comic strips" with students. It requires no login and can be used in a variety of ways to allow students to "creatively" apply their knowledge in a fun and interesting way. Students can also create comics in a variety of languages.

>
 * **Paper Rater:** this web tool is used to analyze a student's writing and claims to improve the students writing through repeated use. (You'll have to let us know what you think :) Paper rater looks at grammar and spelling and provides feedback on writing style and choice of words.
 * **Go Animate:** this web tool allows the user to create an animated cartoon by selecting characters and adding text. An account is needed for this tool and the site does have some "annoying" prompts to upgrade to the premium version, but students enjoy the tool so much that it is worth the annoyances.
 * Project Gutenburg: free books from the public domain.