Teachers can create graphing activities that are fun for their classrooms. For younger students, teachers should prepare the grid before the students arrive, using real objects, and find a lesson that incorporates a daily graph plotting session. Students will be excited to add more data to the graph and they won't know it's a science or math lesson at all. Older children will enjoy drawing perpendicular lines to start the graph, and they may take homework home to graph data on their own.
Young children tend to be tactile learners, and a graphing activity should begin with using real objects on a graph mat or chart. Teachers can ask children what fruits they like and place the number fruit on a graph. Different fruits would be on different rows or columns. After the students understand the basics of graphing with real objects, teachers can move on to pictorial images on the graphs. Once this is mastered, teachers can use numbers or symbols on a graph. An example of using numbers could be a daily graphing of the outside temperature.
Older elementary school children can draw out their own graphs for plotting. Assignments could send children to collect data on things they like, such as the number of toys they own. Using maps, children can graph distances of different local attractions or points of interest from the school. Children can also graph different items from home. Children this age still benefit from hands-on projects, and teachers should assign graphing activities that children can enjoy and fully understand.
Creating a routine in a daily graphing lesson builds students' confidence in numbers and critical thinking. Find a way to cater to all the individual learning styles of your students. Graphing can be taken outside to an outdoor classroom or a playing field. Elementary school students learn best through doing, and teachers should not make graphing seem like a chore. Age-appropriate graphing activities is a must. Younger children need more concrete graph projects while older children can be more abstract.