Refugee camp word cloud
Create a confronting ‘refugee camp’ word-visual — a worldle ‘word cloud’ — using R’s negative description of the refugee camp in Iran in Children of War: Voices of Iraqi refugees by Deborah Ellis. Students underline negative words and phrases that ‘R’ uses to describe the camp.
Before making a list of words and phrases, some actions can be transformed into a single apt verb; for example, ‘we were just wandering around looking for things we could use, like wood or scraps to burn’ could be changed to ‘scavenging’. Some statements can be transformed into confronting questions; for example, ‘you can imagine’ to ‘Can you imagine’. The more often a word is input, the larger it will appear, so ‘refugee camp’ should be repeated and groups can experiment with repeating particular words for effect. To keep words together in a phrase, use tildes between words. Students can begin randomising to try out different effects, then choose one they like and experiment with customising it.
