ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

The purpose of this unit is to increase student’s ability to gather,use, organize, understand, and display information using graphs, tables, and spreadsheets. Based on teacher observation of student’s difficulty in reading and interpreting graphs and tables; I have determined a need for further instruction in this area. This unit addresses the Third Grade Content Standards of Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability; Process Standard of Reasoning and Proof; and SCANS:Acquires and Uses Information.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: 1. I want the students to read and understand graphs, charts, and tables so they are able to gather and organize their own information to create meaningful interpretations. 2. They should be able to apply this skill in other environments.
Goal(s): Students will gather and organize information to create a graph, table or chart to display their information.

Questions Answered

Essential questions:1. What are graphs, tables and charts? 2. How do we read and use graphs, tables and charts? 3. How do we collect and organize data?4. How should we display data on a chart, table or graph?
Objectives: 1. Given a tally chart and data to be entered, the students will mark the correct column for every response given.  2. Given a table or chart, the students will accurately identify the information and explain what the data is telling us in a 10-20 word oral or written response. 3.  Given pictographs, line graphs, and bar graphs; the students will read and interpret the data with 80% accuracy as determined on the chapter test. 4. When given a class list or tally sheet, the student will poll other classmates on a topic decided on by their group.  This will be completed within a fifteen minute class period.  5. Given a supply of materials; students will use the data they collected when polling their classmates to create a graph, table or chart to display their information. This will be completed within one 60 minute class period.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simpe content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? 1.Chapter 4 test-multiple choice items 2.Review page 224-short answer questions
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance)  will provide evidence of understanding?  Our daily discussions of graphs, tables, and charts include real-life situations (e.g. bedtimes of third graders,family pets)
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?1.  As a final assessment, students will make a conjecture about what they think classmates will choose as their favorite music, pizza, holiday, season, ect. and why they will make that choice. 2. Groups will design a graph of their choice to display their understanding of the data they obtained.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment)of understanding will you collect?  Evidence of understanding will be collected through teacher observations and student’s sharing of their completed projects.

Instructional Strategies

In cooperative learning groups of four,the students will use a combination of inquiry-based and project-based strategies to complete their final assessment. Through the inquiry process, students decide what information they are interested in finding out from their fellow students and do the data collection. Students will use this information to create a graph, table or chart(end product) displaying their specific content. With students reflecting on their work and asking questions such as “If you surveyed another third grade class, would your data look the same? What about a sixth grade class?” the students will begin to see how we can explore real life situations.