Saturday, January 23, 2016

Graphing

Hi there,
Cheryl here.  I want to show you how I use strips of paper to make graphs.

Friday was Pajama Day at my school.  The kids come to school in their pajamas and we do lots of fun things to make the day special.  One of the things that I do in my room is to make pancakes with the kids.  After making pancakes (math and science) we graphed how we like to eat our pancakes.  This was the first experience making a graph for my kiddos.

To make the graph, I wrote their name on a paper pancake.  They attached that to the end of a 3x9 strip of paper.  The color of the paper was determined by their answer to the question, "How do you like your pancakes the best?"  Light brown= plain, yellow= with butter only, dark brown= with syrup only, and dark brown with a yellow stripe= with both syrup and butter.

We used the strips to look at the data in two different ways.  The first was by laying the strips out in columns to make a simple bar graph.  This is one of the most common ways to look at data.  (One of my kiddos moved the butter only strip when I was getting my camera- little stinker).

Pajama Day Fun- Pancake Graph

After we discussed the results of our bar graph, I then changed it up by arranging the strips into a circle.  This created a pie chart that allowed us a chance to look at the data in a different way.  We could figure out the percentage of the class that likes their pancakes in different ways.  

Pie chart graphing

The kids immediately noticed that half of the class liked both syrup and butter on their pancakes.  Since I teach TK, we didn't bother going into the exact percentages, but if you had older kids, then that would be an appropriate thing to do.

You don't have to do this with pancakes, but think about all the different things that you could do it with.  It's a great way to show kids how, by displaying the data in different ways, you get different information about it.  Using strips of paper to make graphs is my new favorite way to display data.  I hope you find it useful and inspiring as well.



Thanks for stopping by!
Cheryl





Monday, January 18, 2016

Celebrating Diversity

Hi there!

It's Cheryl and I just started a new school year with a new group of kids.  I'm teaching EAK (Early Admission Kindergarten) to a group of kids who are just turning 5 now or in the next couple of months.  My class is filled with bubbly, bright, energetic and sweet kids.  We are having THE BEST time getting to know each other.  Our first day together was January 4th.

And what better way to learn about us and celebrate our diversity, than by learning about Martin Luther King Jr.  It's a weighty topic for 4 and 5 year olds so I make sure to introduce it in a way that they can relate more easily.  I read the book The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf.


If you haven't read this book yet, it's a great real aloud for your class.
I shared this cute poster with them and we talked about how every color is important and all are needed to make the world a better place.

The Crayon Box That Talked Diversity Lesson

After we read the book and talked about how important every color is, I had my kids write their favorite color on the line and then using their crayons, color in 4 other colors that they like.

 The Crayon Box That Talked Freebie for PreK

This activity was very manageable for my little kids.  We aren't writers yet, in fact we are still learning how to write our names.  All they had to do on this paper was to write just two words, the first being their name and the second being a color word.  

I showed them how to locate and then write their favorite color word on the wall.  Then after they wrote their words, they had fun reading each other's words by using the wall again.
It was great watching them realize that they are becoming readers and writers.





Thanks for stopping by!
Cheryl