Another First Day Tradition---Graphing

When DG started Kindergarten we did a simple M&M graph and she enjoyed it so much, she requested to do a graph on the first day of school each year thereafter; and it has become another first day tradition.   Over the years we have graphed M&Ms, Lucky Charms, and Skittles.  

Today was our first day of school for our new year (5th grade)----and she was so excited to see her graph paper and Skittles bag out and waiting for her.  I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and share pictures from the past.  I can't seem to find the graph for 2nd grade, but I have one for every other year.  At the bottom of the post, I'm also uploading our pages we used this year in case anyone would like to download and modify/use them.

Kindergarten-M&M graph
This year was a simple predict, sort, count and graph.  The file I purchased for this year (and that we used again 3rd grade) was from AIMS and can be found here.  There is a great preview feature and you can see even more pages in the file on the site.

 

First Grade-Lucky Charms Graph
The graph has been shared online by the publisher and can be found here.

 

Third Grade- M&M Graphing again with added pages (see file above)

 

4th Grade-Skittles Graph (made by me - You can download a PDF Version if you'd like to.

 

5th Grade- Skittles Graph (made by me - Feel free to download it if you'd like to.  Download Skittles2012-PDF or Download Skittles2012-WORD document)

As you can see, the math concepts have increased gradually, but I've kept them light and fun purposefully.  If you have older students or want more advanced math concepts, there are lessons available using similar ideas that you might find through an internet search.  For example, a lesson on a simple statistical analysis of the frequency of M&M colors can be found here.

Of course, a big part of the fun is getting to nibble on a sweet treat after the work is done!

 

 

Comments

[donna]

I love this! We will start in roughly a month, and I'm gathering our 1st traditions as well as looking for some new stuff. Thank you!

[Kim]

Thanks, Donna! I hope you have a great start to your new year!
:-)