Lesson Title: Classroom Graphing

Grade Level: 2

Curriculum Resource(s):
TLS 326 Short Math Activity: Data and Statistics
Van de Walle, J., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2015). Elementary and Middle School
Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally, 9th edition

Important Mathematical Ideas:

How to create a bar graph, including labeling of the axes
How to interpret data from a graph and create/answer questions in regards to the presented data

Instructional Objectives:
Students will be able to label axes on a graph given the title.
Students will be able to assess data on a graph.
Students will be able to construct and answer questions about the graph.

Language Objective:
Students will be able to construct questions that can be answered by the graph and verbally ask
the question to the class and call on their peers to communicate their mathematical thinking in
regards to answering the question.

Arizona College and Career Readiness (Common Core) Math Standards Addressed:

Common Core Math CONTENT Standards Addressed:

2.MD.D.10. Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with

single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories.
Solve simple put- together, take-apart, and compare problems
using information presented in a bar graph.

Common Core Math PRACTICE Standards Addressed:

2. MP. 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. MP. 2. Reasoning abstractly and quantitatively.
2. MP. 4. Model with mathematics
2. MP. 5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
2. MP. 6. Attend to precision
2. MP. 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
The Mathematics Task (or set of tasks):

TASK(S) and WHY:

Students will create a bar graph that answers what month their birthday is in. They will
represent their answer by using a sticky note and place it above the correctly labeled month
on the y-axis of the graph the teacher has drawn on the board. Then students will be
presented with a hypothetical situation:

If Mrs. Thomas walked in the door right now and wanted to know about the graph that
is on the board, what are some questions she might ask?

Students will work individually to think of possible questions Mrs. Thomas could ask about the
graph on the board. The students will individually choose what their best question is and
write it on a sentence strip. They will then share their question with their team and work
together to select the teams best question. Students will then write the answer at the end of
the question and cover it with a sticky note. Once every student has their question and
answer written down on their sentence strip, teams will be asked to come up to the front of the
classroom one at a time and ask their question. The other students will take turns trying to
answer the question. The teacher will facilitate a discussion to expand students mathematical
thinking depending on the answers students give to their peers questions.

We chose this task to provide students with a hands-on, interactive way to learn how to read
data and solve problems using a graph. This task allows students to show what they know
about reading a graph, which will allow the teacher to understand what the students know
about reading graphs and what they still need to work on. Allowing students to create their
own questions, answer them, and create a rationale that presents their mathematical thinking
allows them self-efficacy and gives them the opportunity to feel like they have a say in their
learning.

ANTICIPATED STUDENT RESPONSES: Thinking about the Students Thinking

Students may get confused as to which axis is which
Students may think that the graph can answer the question When is my birthday?
Students may count the sticky notes to figure out how many students have a birthday in
a designated month
Students may think that they can tell how old each student is by looking at the graph
Vocabulary

X-axis
Y-axis
Bar Graph
 Data

Materials & Tools

Description of the Mathematics Tools you will have available for students:

Post-It Notes
Whiteboard(s)
Whiteboard marker
Sentence strips
Pencil (one per student)

3 PART LESSON PLAN

1) BEFORE: Introducing and Posing the Task

A blank bar graph will be drawn on the board before the lesson begins. The graph will have the title of
the graph without the axes labeled (but months will be labeled under the y axis), like so:

Birthdays in the Classroom

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Teacher will ask the students to think about what this graph could represent. Students will answer.
Teacher will then pass out a sticky note to each student and ask students what month their birthday is
on. By table number, students will come up to the board and put their sticky note where it belongs
considering their birthday month. Students can refer back to the birthday chart in the classroom if they
do not know what month their birthday is on. This is to activate students prior knowledge and get them
thinking about the data they are representing in the graph.
2) DURING: EXPLORE the TASK

Teacher will ask students to come up with at least two questions that can be answered by
looking at the graph we created as a class.
 If Mrs. Thomas walked into the classroom right now, and you asked her a question
regarding the graph, would she be able to answer your question by only looking at the
graph?

Students will be asked to write their questions on their whiteboards first, and then they will
discuss their questions with their group. Teacher will be walking around to listen to student
discussion and ask questions to expand their thinking.
Can your questions be answered by only looking at the graph?
How did you come up with that question?
Does your question make sense with the information that is on the graph?
At this point, students can also write what they think is their best question on their sentence
strip with the answer.

After students have discussed and shared their questions in their groups, as a group, they will
pick one question out of all the questions. The selected question will have the answer covered
with a sticky note. This will allow students to present their question to their classmates without
giving away the answer.

3) AFTER: Summarizing / Final Discussion

One person from each group will present the question their group chose to the class. This
student will read the question aloud to the class and allow students to answer and explain
their answers. The discussion will be mostly student-led, but teacher will help facilitate.
Students will be thinking about whether or not each question can be answered by looking at
the data on the graph. If there is disagreement, students will further explain their answer to the
question until the class comes to an agreement. This is to build a class community amongst
the students as students work together to determine whether or not each question can be
answered by looking at the graph, and if so, what the answer is.

ASSESSMENT
How will you assess what students learned?

Students will be assessed informally for this lesson by whether or not their questions or
answers made sense in regards to the data on the graph we created.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Elicit nonverbal responses such as thumbs up or thumbs down

 during discussion
Use prompts to support student responses
Partners
Allow for bilingual support
Write months of the year and axes in Spanish

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR OTHER STUDENTS

Specific Learning Disabilities Accommodations:

Allow for extra time to come up with questions or allow students to
say the question verbally instead of writing it down
Constant check-ins with student
Have student write down one question instead of two
Proximity seating
Partners

VARIATIONS

This task could be adapted for students who struggle with mathematics by
changing the data on the graph and fewer categories on the y-axis. For
example, instead of illustrating students birthdays, the graph could illustrate
how many students are 7 years old and how many are 8 years old.

For extensions, students could create a double bar graph with the same data,
but can separate boy and girl answers.