Making a Bar Graph with Sticky Notes

Purpose: To help students create and interpret a simple bar graph.

Preparation Time: None.

Materials: White board or flip chart, markers, sticky notes, pens or pencils.

Preparation: Choose a question related to the unit or theme you are working on. This will be the basis of a survey that the students will conduct in class.

For a housing unit, the question might be:
Do you live in an apartment, duplex, townhouse, mobile home, or house?

For a transportation unit, ask:
Do you come to school by bus, by car, by bike, on foot, or by train?

Procedure:

I do it:

1. Write columns across the top of the whiteboard. For example, make five columns, one each for apartment, duplex, townhouse, mobile home, and house.
2. Model the activity by asking two or three students the question regarding housing. As each student answers, write the response on a sticky note and place it in the correct column.

We do it:

1. Ask a student to take your place and ask the question of several more students.
2. Ask another student to write the responses on sticky notes.
3. Ask the group in which column you should place the sticky note.

You do it:

1. Ask the students to find a partner, preferably someone who speaks a different first language.
2. Students take turns asking each other the question and recording the partner’s response on a sticky note.
3. Each pair then goes to the whiteboard and places the notes in the correct columns.

Note: The teacher/tutor may need to assist learners to make sure columns are clearly separated, so that the final result looks like a bar graph.

Wrap-Up:

1. Ask questions about the bar graph to practice “reading” the information. How many people live in apartments? Do more people live in apartments or houses?
2. Ask students to write sentences about the information on the bar graph.
3. Practice summarizing the information on the graph. For example: Four people live in houses, one lives in a townhouse, and six live in apartments.