Draw and Use Bar Graphs and

Picture Graphs
Dear Family, 4
This week your child is learning about picture
graphs and bar graphs.
Picture graphs and bar graphs are two ways to show data, or collections
of information.

The picture graph

at the right shows
Weather Last Week
there were
Sunny
3 sunny days,
1 rainy day,
Rainy
2 cloudy days, and
1 snowy day during a
Cloudy
week. Each symbol
represents 1 day.
Snowy

The bar graph at

the right shows Favorite Fruit
the favorite fruits 6
Number of Friends

of 10 friends. 5
The height of 4
each bar tells how 3
many friends
2
prefer each type
of fruit. 1
0
Apples Oranges Grapes

Invite your child to share what he or she knows

about graphs by doing the following activity together.

©Curriculum Associates, LLC  Copying is not permitted. Lesson 4  Draw and Use Bar Graphs and Picture Graphs 75
 ACTIVITY  Graph
Do the following activity with your child to draw bar graphs and picture graphs.

Materials 10–12 coins, markers

Practice making a picture graph and a bar graph with your child.

• Gather 10–12 different coins.

• Have your child sort the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters and count
the number of each type of coin.

• Complete the picture graph and the bar graph below with the data. To complete
the picture graph, draw circles with the letters P, N, D, and Q to show each coin.

• Ask your child questions about the

data. For example, ask: How many
Coins
more pennies are there than nickels?
Pennies

Nickels

Dimes

Quarters

Coins
10
9
8
Number of Coins

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Pennies Nickels Dimes Quarters

76 Lesson 4  Draw and Use Bar Graphs and Picture Graphs ©Curriculum Associates, LLC  Copying is not permitted.