We're Back and Making Graphs...

Kindergarten started for us almost a month ago. We've been very busy getting to know each other and learning the classroom routines. We've visited the Library, Computer Lab and Gym. We are learning to read books, explore websites, jump rope, ride scooters and more. In class we are learning to work with partners and in small groups. We are learning how to read the calendar, count money, graph the weather and so much more. We read a few books about kids with really long names. We graphed to see how many letters we have in our names.

Name Graph (PM Class)

Name Graph (AM Class)

We also made a scatter graph of our birthdays.November is our busiest month for birthdays. December is the loneliest with ZERO birthdays!

Please visit our blog again soon to hear and see more of what's going on in our class!

School Is In Session...

Another school year has started. And we're off to have lots of fun while learning. It's taking a while to get all of our permission slips back so we can post photos of us doing our work in class. But in the meantime, we'll share that we have two classes, AM and PM. There are 27 kids in the AM and 26 in the PM. We have 15 girls and 12 boys in the AM class. There are 13 girls and 13 boys in the PM class. So far we have been working on letters, sounds, counting, patterning and beginning reading skills....just to name a few. Please come back soon and see what's going on in Kindegarten!

Our Boy/Girl Graphs

Another Kind of Apple Graph...

We had a chance to make our own individual graphs. We got an envelope with paper apples in red, yellow & green. Each envelope had different amounts of each color. We counted then put the paper apples on our graphing papers. We colored our graphs to match what we had in our envelopes. It is fun to talk about and compare our results.

Check out the Math Standards for why we need to know about graphing:

Data Analysis & Probability

Apple Week....

This is "APPLE WEEK" in Kindergarten. We brought in all kinds of apples to begin the week. Mrs. Blakely has a HUGE floor graph and we used it to graph the different types of apples we had. We graphed by colors and labeled the columns RED, GREEN, YELLOW, & MIXED. Take a look at our results:

What do you notice about the graphs?

Does this mean more kids LIKE red apples?

AM graph:

Columns top to bottom: green, red, yellow, mixed

PM graph:

Columns top to bottom: mixed, yellow, red, green

Visit this site for great photos of many different kinds of apples: Apple Journal

More Graphing...

After reading books about children with long names, we decided to graph the number of letters in our names. First we spelled out our names on the graphing strips, then colored them with our favorite colors. Our teacher made a graph with columns for 3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9+ letters in our names. Take a look at the graphing results. See if you can answer the following questions about the graph: (note: the first strip in each column is there just to show the quantity, it's blank so don't include it in your counting)

Look at each class separately:

• Which column had the most?





• Which had the fewest?





• Were there any columns that were the same/equal?





• Were there any columns that didn't have ANY?
  
  

Next compare the AM Graph with the PM Graph:

• Are there any columns that have the same/equal number of names?





• Was the column with the most the same for both classes?





• Was the column with the fewest the same for both classes?





• Was the column that didn't have ANY the same?

What else do you notice about the graphs?

AM Graph:

PM Graph:

Boy & Girl Graph...

We have many friends in class. Some of us are friends from before Kindergarten; and others we are just getting to know! We made a graph of the girls and boys in our class. Take a look at the photo and use it to answer the following questions:

• In the A.M. Class, are there more boys or girls? How many more?
• In the P.M. Class, are there more girls or boys? How many more?
• Comparing the A.M. girls with the P.M. girls, which class has more girls? How many more?
• Do the same for the A.M. boys & the P.M. boys.
• Which class has the most students?
• How many students in all?
• What else do you notice about the graph?

Left side=A.M.

Right side= P.M.

(boys are on left side of each graph)

Kindergarten Chicago Cubs & Sox Fans...

Recently, one of our classmates asked if we were Chicago Cubs or Sox fans. We thought this was something worth graphing. Each child signed a "baseball" and placed it on either the Cubs or Sox side. There were some who didn't have a preference at all, they added their names to a separate graph. Take a look at the results for yourself:

Do you have a favorite baseball team?

Groundhog Predictions 2009...

Today we read a book called "Groundhog Day" by Betsy Lewin. In the book, people were waiting to see the groundhog come out of his burrow (hole). When he came out, they picked him up and said "Horray" because he didn't see his shadow. Then somebody took a picture of him and the flash made him see his shadow and he went back into his burrow. We guessed if the groundhog will see his shadow this year. Most kids thought the weather will be cloudy and he would NOT see his shadow on Monday. Take a look at our graph results:

What do you think will happen on Groundhog's Day? Feel free to post your comments here...

Math Challenge...

As part of our math curriculum, we learned how to tally, graph and use pictures to represent numbers in a graph. The activity below gives you a chance to practice your skills. You may need a grown-up close by to help you with the words. I am confident you can do the math. The tallies and bar graph should be very familiar activities. The pictograph presents a challenge. Be sure to pay attention to the details in the instructions. Have fun!