Graphs

I'm posting way more than I'm actually going to because it's vacation and because I have lots of old things I want to talk about! But generally there is no way I will post this much.

One thing I would like to implement in my classroom everyday is the use of graphs (even in preschool!). As a part of the morning routine, I want students enter the classroom, read or be told what the daily question is, and then mark their answer on whatever type of graph I am using that day. Let's say I am using a bar graph. You can buy a good bar graph here (graph) or you can make your own. I made a reusable bar graph two summers ago by drawing lines on a poster board, covering it with contact paper, and adding pieces of velcro so that students could stick a colored piece of paper (laminated and with velcro on the back) with their answer to the graph's question.

Here is an example: In a preschool class of 3 and 4 year olds, I made a graph titled "Would a dinosaur make a good pet?" to go along with our dinosaur unit. I velcro-ed the title of the graph to the top of my homemade graph and put the words "yes" in green and "no" in red on the x-axis (the bottom of the graph). Then students could choose either a green piece or a red piece to velcro to the graph to mark their opinion. When students had all put their vote on the graph, we talked about why they voted the way they did and which answer had the most and the least votes.

My plan is to have a different question every day. The question itself is not really important; what is important is that students are exposed to graphing. I will also do a variety of graphs, charts, and data collecting strategies. One thing I may do is to have children put a tally mark under their choice. Another option is to use legos by giving each student a lego and having them build towers based on their choices (sort of like a 3-D bar graph). Furthermore, I may have students make a paper chain to represent their answers to the question of the day. There are infinite possibilities!

Some people may question whether graphing is too complicated for preschoolers, but I would disagree. Students should not be taught about the x and y axis or the mechanics of making a graph, but they will understand how it basically works and what it means, especially if teachers use it in their every day routines. They will enjoy making and displaying their opinions and choices, and they will be excited to see the class results. I think a lot of times we underestimate what early childhood students can really do, but they can really surprise us!