Slow Reveal Graphs for a Fun, Standards-Aligned Routine

Are you interested in starting a new, short routine with your learners that will help them get comfortable with interpreting different types of graphs? If your answer is “Yes,” Slow Reveal Graphs is an excellent resource to do just that! 

There are many reasons to include work on graphs with your learners:

• Graphs are in our world and a way that information is often presented. Learners need to know how to interpret graphs in order to navigate their everyday lives. 
• Interpreting graphs is part of one set of standards that MN ABE educators must cover– The College and Career Readiness Standards: “Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. (RI.4.7)”
• Graphs appear on standardized tests learners take such as CASAS, TABE and the GED test.
• It’s fun! Especially the way that Slow Reveal Graphs does it.

What is Slow Reveal Graphs?

Slow Reveal Graphs is a website with several Google Slide decks that slowly reveal graphs. The decks begin with, for example, just the bars of a bar graph, and slowly with each slide, the labels and title of the graph are revealed. As you go through the slide deck with learners, you can have rich discussions full of critical thinking as learners try to figure out the labels and what the graph might be about. Here is a 3-minute video in which a teacher shows a Slow Reveal Graph slide deck and explains how she goes through it with her learners.

Here are some Slow Reveal Graphs that might interest your students:

• Length of Compulsory Military Service in Selected Countries
• Disney Princess Baby Names in the US (1951-2021)
• The World’s Biggest Employers
• Top Five States for Refugee Resettlement within  the US (2020-2021)
• Number of Countries that Speak Different Languages 
• And more!

Be sure to check the notes section of the slides for prompts to encourage discourse. 

Start a new routine to improve your learners’ critical thinking and graphic literacy and try a Slow Reveal Graph this week!

For questions or comments about this Tutor Tip, contact Tutor Training Coordinator Meghan Boyle at mboyle@literacymn.org.