This lesson is created to utilize Tom Snyder's The Graph Club software as a supplemental activity to tallying and creating graphs by hand. It is meant for third graders, although it can be adapted for younger students as needed.

The program allows students the capability to create, compare, and explore graphs of many different types at the same time. Students immediately see the consequences of changing a quantity or graph type. Students can print out the graphs they create in various sizes ~ a single 8½ x 11 size, a 4-page big book version, and a 9-page poster size for hall and classroom display.

Although this software covers graphing in five formats ~ circle, bar, picture, line, and table ~ the lesson only covers bar, line, and table in order to keep the group size manageable. Finally, because of the class polling required, the lesson is completed over two days in order to allow time for the polling.

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Poll classmates to gather information for a graph,
• Identify three types of graphs (bar, line, table),
• Create each type of graph using data gathered from classmates, and
• Create and explain a graph using The Graph Club software.

• Pet faces on small 2 x 2 papers
• Clipboards, pre-made tally sheets, and a class roster check off for each group
• The Graph Club computer software
• Computer printer
• Chartboard
• Blank graph mats for each type of graph

1. With the class in a circle, ask each child what type of pet they have. Each child chooses only one pet (if they have more than one at home) or "no pet" if they have no pets at home.
2. Have each student come up to the chartboard and place an appropriate animal face in the appropriate column.
3. Write the totals for each pet type, and as a class add the totals to ensure that each child voted.

• Development of lesson:

Day #1:

1. Ask class which kind of pet the class has more of. Least? Discuss how they can figure that out. (line length, number)
2. On the computer, create the same picture graph using The Graph Club. Demonstrate the procedure to the class.
3. Create the other graphs using the same information. Print them out in Big Book size and display on wall as a reference tool.
4. Discuss the graphs as a group to determine similarities and differences.
5. Group the class into several small groups of 3. One person is the tally recorder, one person is the interviewer, and the third person keeps track of which classmates have been polled (on a class roster check-off sheet).
6. With a clipboard and class list for each group, assign them a topic to poll the rest of the class with. Groups can choose polling topics from a hat ~ favorite food, favorite color, eye color, hair color, etc
7. Throughout the day, allow the class to poll their classmates.  

Day #2:

1. In their groups, with the three different graph mats, have each group create the one of each type of graph depicting their data.
2. While the groups are working, bring one group at a time to the computer and assist them in creating a graph using their data. Include title, axis names, and a short description about their graph, i.e. "Our graph shows that more students like pizza than hot dogs" or "The same number of students have blue eyes and brown eyes. No one has green eyes in our class."
3. Print out one graph from each group in big book format.

• Closure:

1. Bring class back to circle.
2. Have each group share their data, interpretation, and graphs with the rest of the class.
3. Post each computer-generated graph, surrounded by the hand-made graphs, in the hall or classroom.

As homework, students will tally each pair of footwear in their household into the following categories: shoes, sneakers, boots, and slippers. Students will use a labeled tally sheet to do this. After the footwear is tallied, students will create 2 different graphs depicting their data. Students will be evaluated based on the accuracy of their graphs as compared to their tallies.

Software Evaluation Table of Contents | Table of Contents for Lesson Plans | Evaluation of Graph Club