"Another exercise devised by Common Core promoters features the Gettysburg Address as a word cloud. Yes, a word cloud. Teachers use the jumble of letters, devoid of historical context and truths, to help students chart, decode and "deconstruct" Lincoln's speech." "Exercise" is the key word here. This wouldn't be the whole lesson, just a quick way to visualize which ideas Lincoln repeatedly stresses. It would be an introduction to a lesson, not the lesson itself. And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with analyzing why he picks the words he picks? I thought it was English teachers' job to teach students how to analyze rhetoric, and analyzing word choice is the first step in that.