Second grade students enjoy comparing details about themselves such as the number of letters in names. A quick way to assemble this data is on a ribbon-and-clothespin graph similar to the one suggested by math educator John A. Van de Walle in his book "Elementary and Middle School Mathematics." The title of the graph is written in wet-erase marker across the top of an 8-by-17-inch laminated (for reuse) chart that is divided into four boxes labeled with choices related to a subject such as "How Long Are Our Names." The box labels might be "5 Letters or Less," "6 Letters," "7 Letters" and "8 or More Letters." Each box has a long ribbon attached onto which students clip clothespins based on the lengths of their names. Then students analyze which name lengths are most and least common.
Another quick way to gather and view data is by creating a graph on chart paper with markers and sticky notes. Second graders like to "vote" on various favorites, including playground games. Categories for playground games might include baseball, soccer, jump rope, tether ball and four square. The chart paper is titled "Favorite Playground Games" and divided into five columns -- one per activity. Each student receives one sticky note and is told to place the note in the column of his or her favorite game. Then students can compare the results asking questions such as which activities were least or most popular and which is the "median" or middle choice.
Most graphs are whole-class projects in second grade and often are built into academic subjects other than math, such as science. Weather data is a good topic to represent in a colorful picture graph. A display of data titled "April Weather" might include rows labeled "sunny," "cloudy" and "stormy." Each day, a student would attach a cutout related to the weather -- such as a sun, cloud or lightning bolt -- to the appropriate row. After a month, the class could study the pictures to analyze the least and most frequent types of weather.
When graduating to abstract representations, such as bar graphs, it is best to connect to previous graphs created in more concrete formats such as clip, sticky note or picture displays. So, after collecting a month of weather data on a picture graph, the class can learn how to convert this information to a bar graph on a piece of grid-style chart paper. The sun, cloud and thunderbolt would be drawn under a line crossing the bottom of the chart paper. Bars representing the number of days for each kind of weather would rise above these pictures and be measured in grid squares labeled from 0 to a maximum of 30 (the total days in April) along the left-hand margin.