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It's a bit difficult to make a prediction based on this article since I know quite a bit about the Gulf oil spill. However, the largest words "Fund, People, Spill, Billion" all would lead the reader to believe that the oil spill will affect many people and cost astronomical amounts of money. The connections to my background knowledge would come from previous oil spills, how they affected people and the environment, the cost and the length of time it takes to clean up. Applying that background information with the info presented in the Wordle would confirm, in my mind, the devastation that an oil spill brings.

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__3.3 Wordle as a Before Reading Strategy__
What Wordle can do for the user is provide a framework for her own reading. Providing a teacher made Wordle as a pre-reading exercise has many valuable uses. One such use could be for ELLs and struggling readers to use the Wordle to find unfamiliar words and define them. For stronger readers, the Wordle could be used as a jumpstart to a predicting quick-write about the chapter ahead.

The Wordle is not the end-all as far as technological tools are concerned. However, for middle-schoolers the Wordle is a cool and fun way to learn vocabulary, use as a Do-Now, use for Quick-Writes or as and end of the unit wrap-up. Students enjoy using the Wordle because it allows creativity on the part of the student. They love changing the fonts, styles and colors. They just don't realize that they are seeing the same words over and over and are cementing them into their brains!

As I said above, I think the Wordle can be used by readers of all levels. Differentiating the instruction is the key to making sure the Wordle is used effectively.

__ 3.5 Top Five Vocabulary - After Reading Activity __
Create a list of the 5 most important terms to know from your reading. Please list the terms, and next to each, give a brief definition in your words, which also incorporates the importance of the term to understanding the overall reading
 * visceral** - A //visceral// feeling is intuitive — there might not be a rational explanation, but you feel that you know what's best, like my //visceral// reaction against tripe.
 * straightforward** - clear and concise with little detail or complication
 * economy** - the network of people and businesses that are the wealth of a community
 * compensate** - to give or provide for, usually in the form of money or services
 * fraud** - an idea, concept or tangible thing that is not what it seems, fake
 * waive** - to give up your right; example: If a person is arrested they might want to talk to the police without a lawyer. ("I waive my right to attorney.")