Tell students to always read the title of the graph, chart or table first. They also need to look to see if there is a key that goes with what they're looking at. Sometimes a key will indicate the value of a picture, such as each picture being worth two instead of one. A key can also explain what the colors on a graph represent, such as red being reading, yellow being math and green being science.
Tell students to look at each item they're analyzing and try to see numerical patterns or trends. For example, they may notice on a table that on Monday 2 fish were caught, on Tuesday 4 fish were caught and on Wednesday 6 fish were caught.
Focus students' attention on what there is the highest number of. This usually is obvious because they will see more pictures of this item on a picture graph; on a bar graph this bar will be the longest; and on a table, this number will be the greatest.
Direct students' attention to what there is the least number of. Students usually can see this relatively well also because there will not be many pictures of this item on a picture graph; on a bar graph this bar will be the shortest; and on a table, this number will be the smallest.
Ask students to determine how many more of one item there is than another. For example, if 9 people like apples and 7 people like oranges, ask them how many more people like apples than oranges. They should be able to look at the graph and determine the answer is 2 because there are two more apples on the graph than oranges. Show students how to count on the graph to determine this and explain to them they could also subtract.
Demonstrate on the board how to find the median, mean and range if it's age-appropriate. Show them how to arrange numbers from lowest to highest and identify the number in the middle to determine the median. Show them how to add all the numbers together and divide to find the mean, which is the average. Finally, show them how to subtract the highest number from the smallest number to find the range. Everyday Mathematics has an Internet game students can continue getting practice with median, mean and range. The game explains what the words mean and how to find each before players begin the game.