This usesWordle in addition to a CAT (Classroom Assessment Technique), 1 minute paper, to find the deeper emotional meaning about god through interviews conducted by students in a communitycollege setting.

1. God and Skittles ®
THE 1 MINUTE
PAPER +
Dr. Cherriethel (Cherry) Emerson
Front Range Community College (BCC)
Teaching with Purpose Presentation, April 27, 2012
© Emerson, 2012

2. ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION
The “God and Skittles ” 1 Minute Paper + ®
 18 students, 6 pods of 3, “pod-ed since first day of class.
 Have previous working together on in-class projects.
 Computer classroom and they are all logged onto class in D2L.
 Each pod got their choice of bags of Skittles®. They love Skittles®.
 Then, after instructions, the fun and the Skittles® exchange began!
Photo: “Killer Whale Pod” -Scott Beale, of Odin Lonning’s Tlingit 3-D Art

3. Step by Step Procedure
 Decide what you want to focus on.
 Core, emotional words concerning beliefs in god.
 Difference between ethnography and ethnology.
 Survey techniques and ability to analyze and report results.
 Write 1 Minute Paper prompts that fit.
 Clear, concise instructions as to method
 A simple “yes/no” question that leads to open-ended.
 Clear, concise instructions as to the esssay form.
 Buy enough Skittles®.

4. INSTRUCTIONS for STUDENTS
 You will be working with not only your pod, but other pods in the class. You will act as an
ethnographer, you will be asking questions about beliefs in god and beliefs in what happens to you
after you die.
 You will then do and ethnology, compiling the ethnographies you completed (your interviews). The
similarities and differences, as well as you conclusions will be put into a 200 word essay before the
end of class.
 Next class you will put your essay into Wordle, and we will discuss what universal concepts about
religion emerged. I will make one big Wordle with all of your essays combined to share with the class.
1. You will ask the questions of your pod mates and one person in each of the other pods.
2. You will then write a 200 word essay with comparisons/contrasts and conclusions.
3. You should not identify any student by name in your essay
4. Your individual essay will be submitted into D2L in the ESSAY dropbox before the end of the class .
5. This assignment is not graded. I will be the only one to read what you write, where you will be
identifiable, however parts, or all, of your essay may be used in a demonstration project.
6. Question you will be asking:
 Do you believe in god? Yes or No.
 Describe god if “yes,” explain why not if “no.”
 What happens to you after you die?

5. WHAT IS WORDLE?
“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds
give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You
can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images
you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or
save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. “ (wordle.net)
Wordle is simply what anthropologists have always called content analysis.
(student1, ANT 225)

6. TEXT vs. WORD CLOUD (Wordle)
“After going around the room or sitting here and answering questions for our group, one person came back with a
full report of the classes religious views and perspectives on whether or not they believe in God and there opinion
on the subject. Most people in the class agreed in a higher power and answered yes when being asked if they
believed in god or not.
Some people you can tell have a very strong opinion on how they feel about god and had an ear full when the
answer was yes or no. So right away you could tell who had a more religious background then the others.
When asked what he/she looks like most people thought of the painting of the Holy Family with baby Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph. A very baroque style is what some people mentioned very big and centered with huge grey ominous
clouds in the background.
Then when asked where the “afterlife” if there was one most people answered with well you either go to heaven or
hell. It is hard for me to think that you don’t just die. After losing my best friend I always like to think that he is in
heaven but for some reason I get the feeling that you are just finished.” (Student2 ANT 225)

7. 1 Minute Essay NOT * = 1.25 HOURS
 5 minutes - Explain Project – Hand out Skittles®
 10 minutes - Interviewing pod mates.
 25 minutes - Interviewing other pods
 20 minutes - Writing and Loading Essay
 15 minutes - Viewing/Discussing two of the individual Wordles
 75 minutes - TOTAL = 1 class period
Meets TGI GOALS
• Develop ability to synthesize and integrate information and ideas (TGI Goal 5)
• Develop ability to think holistically: to see the whole as well as the parts (TGI Goal 6)
• Improved skill of paying attention (TGI Goal 9)
• Improved listening skills (TGI Goal 12)
• Developed appropriate study, strategies and habits (TGI Goal 16)
• Learned terms and facts on the subject (TGI Goal 18)
• Learned concepts and theories on the subject (TGI Goal 19)
* from CAT “Responses to Minute Papers often take longer than Planned.”

8. What does 4000+ words look like?
(all students, ANT 225)
QUESTIONS

9. 1 Minute Paper
You have 60 seconds to answer the following question on
the index card provided. Do not add your name.
You may start only when you see the word “GO” appear on
the screen and you hear the Jeopardy™ theme start.
The theme is exactly 1.04 minutes in length.
When it stops, so do you. Pass your cards forward.
QUESTION: Why is Wordle more effective in conveying
core concepts of an essay than printed text? Or is it?

10. Works Cited in Power Point and Presentation
 Anthropology of Religion Class, Classmates. Interview by Student Various. Personal interview. 17 Apr. 2012.
 Academic!, Ace. "Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds." Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr.
2012. <http://wordle.net>.
 Angelo, Thomas A., and K. Patricia Cross. "Minute Paper." Classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for
college teachers. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993. 148-153. Print.
 Beale, Scott. Killer Whale Pod . N.d. Seattle Aquarium, Seattle. laughingsquid.com. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
 Boylan, Richard. Extraterrestrial Monolith in Space. N.d. Richard Boylan, Ph.D., Graphic Design.
thelivingmoon.com. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
 Crescent City Orchestra. "2001 Theme." Rec. 1963. 2001 Theme. Lounge Masters Album, Vol 6 . 2004, Digital
Music works International. MP3.
 Emerson, Cherriethel (Cherry). "God and Skittles." Anthropology of Religion. Front Range Community College.
C1730, Longmont, Colorado. 17 Apr. 2012. Class lecture.
 Emerson, Cherriethel (Cherry). “Religious Beliefs, Classroom Exercise, Instructions.” Unpublished, April 17,
2012, Erie, Colorado.
 Houser, Dominik. “Theme From Jeopardy.” Composed by Merv Griffin. BSX Records. Released 2010.
 Huang, Mike. Skittles Rainbow. N.d. Mike Huang Personal Collection, Toronto, Canada. myphotoaxis.com. Web.
20 Apr. 2012.
 Rushkoff, Douglas . "The Persuaders | FRONTLINE | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. PBS, n.d. Web.
18 Apr. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/>.
 Stein, Rebecca L., and Philip L. Stein. The anthropology of religion, magic, and witchcraft. 2. ed. Boston [u.a.:
Pearson, 2007. Print.
 Wente, Clara. "Classroom Assessment Techniques." Teaching with Purpose. Front Range Community College.
BCC 1558, Longmont, Colorado. 13 Apr. 2012. Lecture.