Graphing Teaching Resources
Teach graphing this school year with printable worksheets, fun graphing activities and games, task cards and more teacher-created resources for elementary school math!
This collection of editable teacher-created resources is aligned with the Common Core curriculum. It has been carefully reviewed by the expert teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure every single digital or printable resource is ready to use in the classroom. That means you can save hours on lesson planning with activities ready to print or use digitally!
Are you looking to learn more about teaching students to use graphs, or just on the hunt for fresh ideas and activities to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look graphing on this level and some key vocabulary!
What Is Graphing? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Graphing starts as early as kindergarten or first grade in many schools around the country with simple pictographs. But how do you explain what graphing is to the youngest students? This kid-friendly definition may help.
Graphing is a way to show information using pictures and symbols. It's sort of like drawing a picture that helps you understand numbers and facts.
For example, we could use graphs to show how many kids in our class like different colors or how many toys in the toy bin are cars.
Graphing Vocabulary for Elementary Teachers
Looking for a guide to some of the graphing vocabulary your students will encounter — and you will have to define? Here's a comprehensive look, along with some simple definitions!
- Data —Information that is collected and analyzed
- Axis — The horizontal and vertical lines that make up a graph.
- X-axis — The horizontal axis on a graph
- Y-axis — The vertical axis on a graph
- Bar — A rectangular shape we use to represent data on a bar graph
- Scale — The units used to measure data on a graph
- Pictogram/pictograph — A graph that uses pictures to represent data
- Legend/key — A chart that explains the symbols used on a graph (students may recognize this from their map skills lessons)
- Line of best fit — A straight line on a graph that represents the overall trend in a set of data
- Line plot — A graph that shows the frequency of data values on a number line
- Tally — A mark used to represent data on a tally chart
- Pie chart — A graph that shows the proportion of each data value to the whole, represented as a circle that looks like a pie
- Line graph — A graph that shows the relationship between two variables using a line
- Data point — An individual value on a graph
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Coordinate Plane Printable Templates
Download these coordinate plane printable templates for use in your coordinate planes or graphing unit.
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Battleship Coordinate Plane Game
Use this coordinate plane game to practice plotting ordered pairs on the coordinate grid.
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Number Talks - Data Analysis Task Cards
Build data analysis skills with this set of 26 task cards.
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Blank Graph Template Pack
Construct your own graphs with a printable set of Blank Graph Templates.
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Analyzing Line Plots – Differentiated Worksheets
Empower your students to become proficient data interpreters with this set of differentiated line plot worksheets.
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Creating Line Plots (with Fractions and Decimals) Small Group Activity
Incorporate this small group activity into your math centers to reinforce students skills in interpreting data and displaying it as line plots.
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Count and Graph - Thanksgiving Math for Kindergarten
Practice counting and graphing with a fun Thanksgiving Math worksheet for kindergarten.
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Creating Line Plots With Measurements – Differentiated Worksheets
Guide students to measure items to the nearest inch or ¼ inch, create a line plot and answer questions with this set of differentiated worksheets for 2nd and 3rd-grade students.
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Count and Graph – In the Classroom
Practice collecting, sorting, and organizing data to create a graph with this 2-page worksheet.
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Graphing Data Worksheets (Coordinate Plane)
Introduce these graphing data worksheets to your students to give them practice graphing real-world situations on the coordinate plane.
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Dot Plots / Line Plots - 4th & 5th Grade Assessment
Assess student understanding of reading and creating line plots with a printable math test for 5th grade.
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Creating Line Plots (With Whole Numbers, Fractions and Decimals) Worksheets
Help your students master data representation with this series of leveled worksheets for creating line plots.
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Spin, Tally, Graph and Interpret Data – Task Card Activity
Guide your students to collect data, make tally marks, create a bar graph and analyze data with this math activity designed for 1st and 2nd-grade students.
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Analyzing Line Plots Task Cards
Strengthen data analysis skills by interpreting line plots with this set of 24 task cards.
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Reading Pictographs - Worksheets
Use this double-sided worksheet to enable students to practice reading and interpreting pictographs.
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Equations, Tables, and Graphs, Oh My! – Differentiated Worksheets
Use these differentiated worksheets to practice using equations to create patterns within input-output tables and graphs.
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Coordinate Plane Printable Poster
Display this coordinate plane printable poster in your classroom when introducing your students to coordinate grids and ordered pairs.
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Types of Graphs Posters
This colorful and easy-to-digest visual display shows students the varying data displays they will encounter in their elementary math lessons.
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We're Going On a Shape Hunt! Graphing Game
Consolidate students' knowledge of 2D shapes while teaching about data collection, recording and graphing!
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Coordinate Plane Escape Room
Play this engaging coordinate plane escape room with your students to help them refine their coordinate grid skills.
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Real-World Math Problems on the Coordinate Plane Worksheet Set
Interpret real-world math problems on the coordinate plane with our differentiated worksheet set.
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Coordinate Plane Games — "Roll and Graph"
Play our coordinate plane games in your classroom to enhance students’ ability to plot points and find the distance between them.
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Coordinate Plane Pictures
Present these coordinate plane pictures to your students to enhance their skills in plotting points in all four quadrants.
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Plotting Points Mystery Picture — Valentine’s Day
Share this potting points mystery picture with your students on Valentine’s Day.
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Analyzing Line Plots Interactive Activity
Dive into data with your class using this engaging Analyzing Line Plots Interactive Activity!
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Creating Line Plots Small Group Activity
Enhance your students’ math skills through this small group activity where they’ll transfer word based data to create line plots.
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Creating Line Plots (Fractions and Decimals) Cut and Paste Worksheets
Enable your students to create line plots to represent given data, using this hands-on cut and paste worksheet set.
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Bar Graphs Worksheet
Use this double-sided bar graphs worksheet to check your students’ understanding of interpreting and drawing bar graphs.
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Coordinate Grids Mystery Pictures
Practice plotting on coordinate grids with this set of differentiated mystery pictures.
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Input-Output Tables and Graphing Task Cards
Practice reading input-output tables and plotting points in the first quadrant with this set of task cards.
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Analyzing Graphs — Scaled Bar Graphs, Pictographs, & Dot Plots —Task Cards
Use data analysis skills to analyze scaled bar graphs, pictographs, and dot plots with this set of task cards.
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Data Vocabulary Poster
A poster that explains the concept of data and lists associated vocabulary.