Graphing is all about taking the concrete--some actual things, actual events, actual people--and rendering a more abstract representation of a situation. Children in the primary grades (and perhaps learners of any age) must work first with the concrete--the actual buttons, or lids, or blocks, or what-have-you-- before attempting the more abstract--the recording on paper. Yesterday we just sorted the objects. Some created very obvious sorts, some made the task more challenging by attending to unusual details. Today we took the next step, recording these sortings on paper.
Again, I began by modeling a sort and this time modelled recording my work on chart paper with pictures and words. Then I created a sort and asked students to help me label my sorting rule. Again, we had an open-ended workshop period with students creating as many sorts as they had time for, trading zipper baggies of buttons and lids for new ones when they were ready.
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