JoinGraphing in early childhood classrooms
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-03-14
The two comments on an earlier post on Collecting Data were about graphing in early childhood classrooms. My curiosity got the better of me so I investigated what some of the standards have to say about when it is appropriate to teach the concept of graphing.
I chose to list Virginia’s standards because that’s where I live, and Oklahoma because it has ranked first since 2003–2004 for serving the highest percentage of 4-year-olds in state-funded preschool.
It appears that most standards agree that preK is the time to introduce graphing—see the chart below.
This is not an exhaustive search—please chime in with any additions, corrections, or personal experiences!
Peggy
(Note that the standards are not quoted in full.)
| Source | Curriculum area | Specific standard or skill |
| A Framework for Science Education Preliminary Public Draft National Research Council of the National AcademiesPublic Comment Draft – July 12-August 2, 2010 | Ch. 5: Dimension 3: Scientific and Engineering Practices 5-17, Pages 93-94 | Table 10: Collecting, Analyzing, and Interpreting Evidence: What patterns are there in the data? (Identifying Relationships) [Table 10 presents how this practice might develop with time.]Emerging–Tabulates and represents evidence in a graphical form and looks for patterns. Can interpret simple data presented graphically (pie charts, simple graphs)patterns. |
| The American Association for the Advancement of Science Project 2061, Benchmarks for Science Literacy | 9. The Mathematical World | Numbers, Kindergarten through Grade 2. By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that simple graphs can help to tell about observations. 9A/P4 |
| National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Data Analysis and Probability Standard for Grades Pre-K-2, Expectations | Instructional programs from prekindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students to— Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them | In prekindergarten through grade 2 all students should— pose questions and gather data about themselves and their surroundings; sort and classify objects according to their attributes and organize data about the objects; represent data using concrete objects, pictures, and graphs. |
| NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for Curriculum, Standard 2. “These aspects of quality should be seen in any programs or classrooms serving birth through kindergarten, though they may look somewhat different in practice depending on the children’s age.” | 2.G. Curriculum Content Area for Cognitive Development: Science | 2.G.05 PreK-KChildren are provided varied opportunities and materials to collect data and to represent and document their findings (e.g., through drawing or graphing). |
| Highscope Preschool Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs)(Note: no specific reference to graphing.) | Science and Technology | Classification ♦ Exploring and describing similarities, differences, and the attributes of things ♦ Sorting and matching ♦ Describing characteristics something does not possess or what class it does not belong to. |
| Mathematics | Seriation ♦ Comparing attributes (longer/shorter, bigger/smaller) Number ♦ Comparing the numbers of things in two sets to determine “more,” “fewer,” “same number” ♦ Counting objects |
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| The Head Start Child Development And Early Learning Framework, December 2010 | Scientific skills & Method | The skills to observe and collect information and use it to ask questions, predict, explain, and draw conclusions.• Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.• Collects, describes, and records information through discussions, drawings, maps, and charts. |
| Mathematics Knowledge & skills | Number relationships & operationsThe use of numbers to describe relationships and solve problems.• Uses a range of strategies, such as counting, subitizing, or matching, to compare quantity in two sets of objects and describes the comparison with terms, such as more, less, greater than, fewer, or equal to.Patterns• Sorts, classifies, and serializes (puts in a pattern) objects using attributes, such as color, shape, or size.Measurement & comparisonThe understanding of attributes and relative properties of objects as related to size, capacity, and area. • Compares objects using attributes of length, weight and size (bigger, longer, taller, heavier). • Orders objects by size or length. |
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| Oklahoma Early Learning Guidelines for Children Ages Three Through Five (November 2006) | Concept Area: Math, Standard 5: Data Analysis—The child will collect and analyze data in a group setting. | Indicators of Child’s Progress– B. Develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, charts, and graphs. |
| Virginia Standards of Learning, (2010) | Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic. COMMUNICATING: To gather, record, and transmit qualitative or quantitative information, including defining operationally; using expert, print, and electronic resources; gathering, charting, recording, and graphing data; and presenting information in standard written narrative, oral, audiovisual, and electronic formats | Grade K: The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of science.i)picture graphs are constructed;Grade 1: 1.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which i)observations and data are recorded, analyzed, and communicated orally and with simple graphs, pictures, written statements, and numbers; and, Grade 2: 2.1 h)data are collected and recorded, and bar graphs are constructed using numbered axes; |