Every Graph Tells A Story

About

• • Students create a story using a graph and/or students can create a graph using a story with data in the text. 

Objective

• • Students are able to see if they are communicating their understanding of how to read a graph. 

This works well for:

• • Working with velocity (time vs. displacement) and acceleration (time vs. velocity). 

  • Students self-checking their graphing skills. Students will quickly see where they're deficient in creating graphs. 

This does not work well for: 

• • Introducing graphing

  • Students who have not have not had this modeled for them. 

Materials

• • 10-12 different graphs; Try to avoid repeating the graph more than once in a class

    • Graphs of velocity and acceleration work well. 

  • Graph paper depending on how you choose to do the follow up activity

Preparation

• • Prior to this activity, the teacher should model creating a graph from a story and a story from a graph. 

  • Print and cut graphs and instructions

  • Instructional video for review. 

Variations of this task:

• • As a follow-up activity, remove the graph from the story the student wrote.  Then have students exchange stories.  With the new story in front of them, pass out graph paper and have students create the graph from their partner's story. 

  • As an alternative follow-up activity, remove the graphs from the stories.  Divide students into groups of 4.  Give them 4 stories belonging to other groups and the graphs that are detached.  Have them match graph to story.  Have students write a small explanation of claim, evidence and reasoning for why they matched the graph with the story. 

Anticipated Obstacles: 

• • Students who struggle with graphing may need some scaffolding. Have students start with labeling the x and y-axes.

Citation

Keeley, P. (2016). Science formative assessment: 75 practical strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.