Five pages of pictographs, where one picture stands for more than one thing. Page 1 is a graph of favorite recess games with a key of 2: a worked example counts the smileys for Tag by 2s (2, 4, 6, 8) and adds 1 for the half smiley, then students write how many for each game and answer which game got the most and the fewest votes, how many more chose Soccer than Jump Rope, and how many voted in all. On page 2 students make a pictograph of cookies sold at a bake sale from a table, drawing a whole cookie for every 2 and a half cookie for 1; the first row is drawn as an example. Page 3 has two graphs side by side, stickers with a key of 5 and pizza slices with a key of 10 (a half pizza is 5), each with a worked example, a how many more or fewer question and a two-step question. On page 4 students make a pictograph of books read with a key of 10, writing the title, the label for the rows and the key themselves, then answer three questions. Page 5 puts keys side by side: how many pictures 10, 20 and 30 need with a key of 2, 5 and 10, a partly finished apple graph where students write the missing numbers and draw the missing apples, a two-step question, and four sets of numbers where students circle the best key.
Start with a real graph: have each student put a sticky note on the board for a favorite game, then group the notes in twos and ask how you could draw the graph with fewer pictures. Talk about what half a picture means before page 1. For pages 2 and 4, remind students to read the key first and draw every picture the same size, starting at the left of each row. Page 5 makes a good discussion: why does a bigger key need fewer pictures, and when is a small key the only one that works?
Count something at home, such as books on a shelf, socks in a drawer or cars that drive by, and make a pictograph where each picture stands for 2. Ask questions about it together: which has the most, how many more, how many in all. Try drawing the same numbers again with a different key.
This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
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A 5-page pictograph pack for 2nd and 3rd grade, where each picture stands for 2, 5 or 10. Read a graph of favorite recess games where each smiley is 2 students and a half smiley is 1, then make a bake sale pictograph from a table by drawing whole and half cookies. Read a sticker graph with a key of 5 and a pizza graph with a key of 10, and answer one-step and two-step questions. Make a book graph with a key of 10 and write its title, label and key yourself. Then find how many pictures the same number needs with each key, finish a partly drawn graph, and choose the best key for a set of numbers. Every page comes in color and in black and white. Answer keys included.
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