Ms.

Ellenberger’s Third Grade Unit

on Graphs and Charts
Dear Families,
In the upcoming math unit, we will be exploring the wonders and many aspects of
graphs and charts. We will be covering how to represent various graphs and charts as
well as how to interpret the information they provide. We will start by learning about
tally charts with a fun tallying activity along with a piece of children’s literature. We will
then learn about tables through bottle flipping, pictographs through using our own shoes
to form a graph, and Lucky Charms cereal to form a line plot, as well as boxes of raisins.
Finally, we will learn about bar graphs using more children’s literature and then skittles.
In the end, the students will create posters containing all the different types of charts
and graphs learned throughout the unit. Thank you for supporting your child’s growth
and learning! Look below for more resources and information. If you have any concerns
or questions, feel free to contact me!
Ms. Ellenberger
kellenberger@gmail.com
814-889-6595
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Children’s Literature appropriate to the unit:
- “Tally O’Malley” by Stuart J. Murphy
- “Lemonade for Sale” by Stuart J. Murphy
- “The Great Graph Contest” by Loreen Leedy
- “The Best Vacation Ever” by Stuart J. Murphy and Nadine Bernard Westcott
- “Tiger Math” by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel

Fun websites for additional practice:

- Math Games - https://www.mathgames.com/graphing
- Education.com - https://www.education.com/games/graphing/
- ABCYa - https://www.abcya.com/games/fuzz_bugs_graphing
- SoftSchools.com -
http://www.softschools.com/math/data_analysis/bar_graph/activities/favourite_co
lors_bar_chart/
- National Center for Education Statistics -
https://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Fun activities to do at home for additional practice:

- Graph using various toys such as Legos or toy cars
- Graphing shapes of items around the house
- Graph using various foods such as items in the refrigerator, cereal, small packs
of candy, fruits, vegetables, etc.
- Graph family members by gender or by height
- Play various graphing games which
will be sent home such as the Bug Hunt Graphing Game
 Schedule/ Calendar of Unit Topics Day 1
Friday
Becoming
Graphs and
Charts Gurus:
Intro
Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Charts and Terrific Tallies Bottle Flipping Pictographs Playing with
Tally Charts: Tables with Shoes Pictographs
Intro
Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Lucky Charms Line Plots with “Lemonade for See the Culminating
Line Plots Raisins Sale” Bar Rainbow Bar Experience:
Graphs Graphs Present a
Poster
Graphing
Project

Unit Vocabulary:

Graph - a visual representation or diagram that shows a relationship between values, or

numbers or objects, in an organized manner

Chart - a sheet of information in the form of a table, graph, or diagram

Tally marks - also called hash marks, are a form of numeral used for counting, each
mark represents one unit

Table - a set of facts or figures systematically displayed, they help organize data and
have columns and rows

Pictograph - a set of symbols or images that represents an idea or information

Line plot - graph that shows frequency of data along a number line

Bar graph - a diagram in which the numerical values of variables are represented by the
height or length of lines or rectangles of equal width.