How to Make a Good Graph

There are some pretty basic guidelines when it comes to constructing graphs and it would be a good idea to make sure your kids know them too.

The first step is to determine which graph is appropriate for your data set. Will you make a bar graph? A line graph? A circle graph? Each type of graph presents information in a different way.

Line Graphs:

• Depict data when you want to see a relationship between two criteria- if you want to see if one variable increases or decreases as a result of a particular factor. 
• To determine the relationship, you look at the line to see if the trend is up or down or neutral. It can be up and down as well. The direction of the slope will tell you something about the trend in the data.
• They can show data over a period of time.
• These graphs can accommodate more than one set of data- you can make the lines different colors and do some comparing.

Bar Graphs:

• Bar graphs are used to show sets of data. 
• This is the graph to use when you have qualitative data to represent. Qualitative data is that which cannot be measured- so types of candy, books read, fish in the fish tank, etc. On the x axis you'd name the categories rather than making a scale of numbers.
• They can be made vertically or horizontally.
• Easily used in lots of subject areas because of the categories.

Circle Graphs:

• Represent a total amount or 100%
• The circle is divided into parts and works well when your data is broken down into percentages or fractions as they compare parts to the whole.
• This one is only used with you are graphing parts of data that make up a whole.

Every graph has to have a few things to be sure it is a well constructed graph and can be easily interpreted.

• Title- let the readers know what is depicted in the graph
• Label the x and y axis with the data set name and the units if there are any
• Evenly distribute the scale- make sure your graph begins at zero (most of the time) and counts away by a consistent amount. This is tricky sometimes to make sure you choose the right scale for your data set and sometimes is difficult for kids. A broken scale skews the data and can be misleading.
• Use a ruler! I would like to think this goes without saying, but neatly drawn lines is important in presentation and scale.
• Use color- graphs are visual representations and as such should be visually pleasing and eye catching.

Once your students are proficient at graph construction, you might consider ways to use technology to make a graph. The basics are still necessary so I think it's good practice for kids to be able to make a hand drawn graph first.

They can use a data spreadsheet (like Excel) to make their data charts and from there choose a graph they want to generate from that data. 

Now that you've made a good graph, there are a lot more ways to manipulate data (in the good way) to draw conclusions and make confident statements about what we are studying. I'll be sure to share those soon!

Candy Graphing

At long last I have a few thoughts to share on our Halloween candy graphs! This is a classic assignment and one that isn't too difficult to pull off. Here are a few details:

• Have kids sort and tally their candy stash- no Halloween for your family? How about taking a poll on people's favorite candy? Tally up the results. 
• Data chart- kids can design their own which is a great learning experience. What kind of chart will best hold the data? How can I organize the information so it's easy to use later? J7 wrote his out by himself and then used Excel to make a chart on the computer.
• Trade the candy- because...well...you know. You have to leave time now that's all out there in the open.
• Eat a little.
• Graph the results- now we thought it would be great to use the candy wrappers in the graph. Splendid idea, but then we needed to wait long enough so that the kids had eaten enough that we had enough different wrappers. Downside: this delayed the follow up of the assignment and the graphs were huge. Upside: how cool are the graphs?
• As part of graphing, the kids will determine which graph is best. More on this in the next post- How to Make a Great Graph!

We had to make sure we had all the elements of a great graph which I'll share with you in the next post. If the student didn't have the wrapper they needed, they drew them on their own.

The kids chose a bar graph to represent their data which was a good choice. In this case we aren't looking to see a relationship between the two variables in our data set. We just wanted to visualize which candy we had the most of. Graphs are used to present data in different ways so which graph you use depends on what you are trying to convey.

They enjoyed this math classic and it launched us into a week of graphing exercises. Meanwhile, E14 has started graphing conic sections in Advanced Algebra. Isn't it fun when a family math plan comes together?

Using Ordinary Notebook Paper Day 3: Math Journals

Welcome to iHN's Hopscotch at Blog, She Wrote! My topic for the 10 day series is Ten Ways to Use Ordinary Notebook Paper. Thank you for joining me. Please take a moment to subscribe, so you don't miss out- you can follow, subscribe by email or RSS feed (just look to the right!) and follow Blog, She Wrote on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I'd love it if you'd stay connected and visit again!

Today's notebook paper topic is: Math Journaling! Math Journaling is a great way to see how your student is processing math concepts. On a math journal page, you are trying to get your student to write about the math concept. You can use math prompts, have them explain a new concept you are ready to have them nail down, encourage drawing, etc. It's a creative way to practice math and it offers another way to learning for kids who think outside the traditional math box.

There are many resources available which will encourage a great math journal experience in your homeschool. 

• Math Journals at Blog, She Wrote- a link that takes you to posts about our math journals.
• Math Journal Pinterest Board- follow the link and check out math journaling ideas from around the internet.
• Books- There are a great many books devoted to creative math problem solving and puzzles. I've made a Pinterest board called resources for math to share my favorite math journaling resource books. I'll try to add some links on my living math page as well.
• Magazines- I often find relevant ideas in magazines that can be used in math journaling. I like to use a local regional magazine, for example, to create journaling activities. There are many ways to incorporate some math skills with some application to magazine topics.

I tasked my kids to make a geometry journal page last year.

This journal entry was an activity to accompany my fifth grader's Beyond FIAR study of Homer Price- on highways and interstates. The book is Real World Math for Hands On Fun.

This was a favorite- making a journal page devoted to all the math skills you use when you play the game Monopoly. This was especially fun after reading some strategy and history books about Monopoly. Like The Monopoly Book

If you haven't done any math journaling at your house, I encourage you to give it a try. I enjoy seeing how my kids will make a page so they can remember a concept. It's a pretty open and creative process and although my focus is on using notebook paper, don't be afraid to make the journal page interactive and use some lapbook elements as part of the page. The ideas I've shown here are just a few and are meant to illustrate that it doesn't have to be fancy and well planned to make a great page.

If you already do math journaling, tell us about something you enjoy using as a resource.

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Please visit the other bloggers participating in iHN's Hopscotch over the next two weeks. While you are taking a look at the other Hopscotchers, check out the Pin It to Win It giveaways sponsored by Prufrock Press.
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Using Ordinary Notebook Paper Day 2: Math

Welcome to iHN's Hopscotch at Blog, She Wrote! My topic for the 10 day series is Ten Ways to Use Ordinary Notebook Paper. Thank you for joining me. Please take a moment to subscribe, so you don't miss out- you can follow, subscribe by email or RSS feed (just look to the right!) and follow Blog, She Wrote on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I'd love it if you'd stay connected and visit again!

Today's notebook paper topic is: Math! How do you use plain notebook paper to do math? This might seem obvious to some, but others really get anxious about how to prepare math problems for their children. As a Math on the Level (MOTL) user, I make up a lot of math sheets. Sometimes I just make up the problems based on what I know my children need practice on- MOTL style, we call them "5-a-Days". Other times, I use other math resources to choose problems from- how do I know what my kids need to work on? That's a question for another time, but you might like to see how we use MOTL here. The short answer is that I use the Excel spreadsheet to schedule out the review problems for my children. It is a slick form and gives me the freedom to find any number of ways to approach the review with my kids. Often I use practice sheets I make up on notebook paper. It's fast. It's easy. It does the job.

Now for some nuts and bolts. That's what you're waiting for, right? Below are some examples of my children's math assignments. You'll find 2nd, 5th, and 7th grades represented here. The younger the student, the more I will help them set up their problems. Some of these are Life of Fred pages. Fred expects you'll use notebook paper and write down the problems and answer them and check them. With my second grader, I like to define the space for him. He has done these on his own, but his fine motor skills are still developing and he squishes everything together.

Making boxes is a very simple way to modify questions for a special needs or young student.

 

With younger students and special needs students, defining the space for answering a problem is important. It helps to show them were to focus their answer and it is an indicator for how the answer should look- long, short, digit only, etc.When I write a question, I usually phrase them specifically to use key words and I underline them. For example, in the first problem below the student was to draw. The key word there is draw. The key word cues the student into what form the answer should take. Now, these are Life of Fred "Your Turn to Plays". I'm not sure Dr. Schmidt knows about key words, but he knows what he wants the student to do. For my part, that's a little something I picked up in graduate school (my MS degree is in Curriculum & Instruction- Secondary Education) and it's one of those things that's easy to remember and apply. I use it even if I don't remember all the key words. Incidentally, while preparing to move, I ran across a laminated reference sheet for these words. I need to put my hands on it again now! Would you like to know what they are? I'd be happy to share in another post sometime. FYI- they follow Bloom's Taxonomy in terms of increasing complexity. It's a nice tool to have in your homeschool teacher toolbox.

I underline the key words that tell a student what I'm expecting in the answer. In this case, a drawing. I guess by the second one I figured he had the hang of it!

My 7th grader does pretty well now. She tends to be a tiny writer, so getting her to space her problems evenly so she doesn't get mixed up has been a challenge. She had some silly mistakes stemming from not really lining up her numbers well. I modeled it for her in the first few problems.

The boxes help to define the answer space a little bigger than the wide rule for my second grader.

Sometimes, a math problem goes in the wrong direction. And students get frustrated. What then? My go to is the whiteboard. If a student needs a stretch, he is welcome to stand up at the large whiteboard. In our old learning space (pre summer move), we had a chalkboard that was fun to work problems on. But lapboards work too and the less permanent dry erase markers help a student to step boldly into correcting a problem. Sometimes they need to attack it more than once. Then they can put the correct problem on to their notebook paper problem set.

When I teach a new concept, I talk about it with the kids and we try out some problems. It's easy to list out the problems in steps as I did with the exponents page. I staged the problem and I use my pen to make extra lines for the kids to see. This is a simple way to cue kids in on the steps of a problem that need to be completed. 

Just a note- I do realize many of you use curriculum that issues a workbook. We were users of Horizons for quite a while, so I'm very familiar with the math workbook. However, we moved away from the consumable math format and notebook paper is very useful for us. It's useful for extra practice and anything math throws our way. My high schooler uses a variation on the plain notebook page. It's probably a good idea to share that too. Stay tuned!

Pretty simple, right? Tomorrow I'll be sharing on how to use notebook paper to do math journaling. Very popular and I will explain how we approach math journaling, how to find resources, and how to use notebook paper for this purpose. I hope you'll join me again!

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Please visit the other bloggers participating in iHN's Hopscotch over the next two weeks. While you are taking a look at the other Hopscotchers, check out the Pin It to Win It giveaways sponsored by Prufrock Press.
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