There's something magical about building a live word cloud together with a group. If you've ever tried it as part of a crowd, you know. You see your own response growing and shrinking on the big screen alongside all the other words from all the other audience members, and it gets to you. It's the poll type most likely to cause laughter, applause, even tears. It makes you feel like you're part of something real.

That's what makes word cloud polling such an asset in the classroom. It gets students to talk, connect, and react, in a format that makes them feel safe.

Scenario 1. Warm up with an icebreaker

The first day/week of class is a great time to dive in with a quick icebreaker question, and word clouds get the job done better than any other question type. Make it as meaningful or nonsensical as you like. Just be sure to write the question in a way that will get you a one-word answer. Here are some sample questions to get you started:

• What's your wizard name?
• Name one thing you wish you had in your bag right now.
• Who makes the best coffee?
• What do you want for your birthday? (Asking for a friend)
• Who's your fictional alter ego?
• What's the best thing on Netflix right now?

Click to copy this word cloud poll into your account.

Scenario 2. Build new connections

Let students connect with each other over questions that bring up shared experiences, opinions, and emotions. Some sample questions for encouraging students to relate in class:

• Use one word to sum up your first day of kindergarten.
• What character trait do you look for in a new friend?
• If you could describe your parents in only one word, what would it be?
• Who has had the most impact on your life?
• What's your biggest goal for the year, in one word?
• What have you changed about yourself to please someone else?

Use the responses as a jumping-off point to talk about the things that make students unique, and also completely normal. Invite students to elaborate on their responses. After sharing something personal in the anonymity of the word cloud, students often feel empowered to discuss personal topics out loud.

Scenario 3. Reach a consensus

This is a word cloud activity that can last an entire class period, or longer. Open the class with a question about a new topic, like, "What was the biggest contributing factor to The Great Depression?" Allow students to posit their one-word hypotheses via the word cloud poll. Then break students into groups to research the subject.

Ask students to use the Clear response button (or text Undo if they’re using SMS text messaging) to update their former answer as they discover new information. As class progresses, the words in the word cloud poll should start to merge, until the top two or three answers completely outsize all the other responses. You might end up with a single word on the display, if the answer is straightforward. Ask students to defend or refute responses out loud.

Some educators use this activity for math and science classes. It's satisfying to watch a screen full of numbers slowly morph into a single numeral (assuming it’s the right one, of course).

(This article is quoted from Poll Everywhere)