Ideas & Strategies for Clothespin Graphs Make a graph…
I use a standard sized piece of colored poster board. The dollar store has lots of colors! I cut the sheet in half vertically and get 2 graphs out of one sheet. After it is made, laminate the graph. Use wooden clothespins and write each child’s name on a pin. Write the name “upside down” on the second side so that his/her name can appear right side up no matter which side the pin is placed.
Use two different colored clothespins, one color for boys and one for girls. This allows for further comparison discussion. Trey
Shae Byron David Kim RaShawn
Cambria Heather I have also used the remaining half sheet to organize the clothespins. This prevents students from having to dig through a basket to find his/her clothespin. It is also easy to see who has not voted. You may want to cover this during discussion, especially if you want to ask questions about total number of voters and non-voters.
As student become proficient with the graphing, have them create the survey questions. I have used a box where they can drop ideas.
Choose a student to lead the activity instead of you. Have the student pose questions for his/her peers about the graph. Make one of your classroom jobs Graph Master. This student can write the question and answers in for you and return the clips to the name poster or box at the end of the day.
Write one sentence daily about the day’s graph and keep them displayed in the room. Students can refer to the previous statements when forming statements about the current graph.
Sept. 12 More people prefer cherry than grape juice in our class. Sept. 13 Only 3 people did not practice their math facts last night. Nov. 10 Two times as many people like skating versus jumping rope. Dec. 16 A new student would most likely choose reading over math because 18 out of 20 of us voted that way.
Possible Questions
Yes or No
Do you like to watch football? Did you watch television last night? Do you know how to skip-count by 8’s to 80? Did you complete all of your homework last night? Do you have perfect attendance so far this year? Do you have pets? Do you have brothers? Do you have sisters? Were you awake at 6:30 this morning? Do you have both brothers and sisters? Have you ever been on a train? Do you have more than 6 letters in your name? Do you read for at least 10 minutes every night? Is your hair past your shoulders? Are your eyes blue? Do you have a zipper on your clothing? Do you have more than 6 windows in your house? Is your birthday during the school year? Do you like macaroni and cheese? Do you walk to school? Do you have pierced ears? Do you share a bedroom with a brother or sister? Have you ever had to wear a cast? Have you ever gone to another school? Do you speak another language? Do you have brothers or sisters in this school? Were you in bed before 10:00 last night? Do you have a library book in your desk? Choice
I would rather … read / do math problems eat pizza / eat a cheeseburger eat at home / eat out go skating / go to the movies listen to the radio / watch tv handwrite my assignments / type my assignments read fiction / non-fiction watch cartoons / animal programs play in the ocean / play in the sand sleep over at a friend’s house / have a friend sleep over watch football / play football read at my desk / read in the floor work by myself / work with a partner
I prefer… plain pizza or pizza with toppings red apples or green apples indoor or outdoor recess raw or cooked carrots picture books or chapter books plain or chocolate milk movies or board games crayons or markers phys ed or art Do you… ride a bus or get to school another way? travel for the holidays or stay at home? pack your lunch or buy your lunch? carry your book bag or pull your book bag? eat breakfast at school or at home? have a fall/winter birthday or spring/summer birthday? have a weekday or weekend birthday this year? have more than 2 pencils or less than 2 pencils? do homework after school or later in the evening? like to hide or seek? Are you… wearing tennis shoes or another type of shoe? better at spelling or math facts? going straight home or somewhere else? right or left handed?
Is the sum of the digits in your phone number even or odd?
Discussion…
Have students complete statements like these based on the graph.
More students chose pizza than tacos.
Fewer students pack lunches than buy lunches.
Most students in our class eat breakfast at school.
Twice as many students did homework than the number of students that did not do homework.
Five more students have a pet than the number of students that do have pets.
A new student in our class would be more/less likely to pick______. If you use the boy/girl colored pins you can compare that data as well.
More boys chose swimming than girls.
An equal number of boys and girls read for 15 minutes last night.
Create an equation or inequality to represent the data. Example:
Boys + Girls for Apples / Boys + Girls for Oranges
5 + 3 < 6 + 6
Give students 4 statements about the graph. Make 3 of the statements incorrect and 1 correct. Ask them which statement is true.
Ask students to give you an untrue statement about the graph.
Have students make statements and ask the other students to determine if the statement is true or false.
Higher Level Questioning:
What could happen to make the choices equal?
How many people voted today?
How many people did not vote today?
How many more ______than ______?
How many fewer ______than ______?
What if 2 more people chose ______? How would this effect the graph? the results or data?
What if one of the answer choices had been ______? How do you think this would have affected the data? Show 2 tally charts and a completed graph. Which tally chart matches the clothespin graph?
What types of questions make it easier for you to predict the results?
Show a completed graph. Ask what the question might have been. How did the number of girl votes versus boy votes affect your thoughts?