Online Graphics

Click on the graphs (above) to see them in more detail.
What I Did:  I downloaded the Summary of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Results for West Virginia, available from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCRS).  It lists scores for 4th grade and 8th grade progress in the areas of math, science, and reading, state by state.I reviewed the statistics for WV's reading scores, then created graphs using Kids' Zone .

What I Learned:  It's not the first time I have worked with this site, but I haven't done it often.  I took some time to prepare the graphs using different formats.  My favorite was the Bar Graph, but I also created graphs using the Line Graph.  I was glad to have a few days to work on this, because I made many revisions to the graphs.  Both 2-D and 3-D effects are good..  Usually I use Excel to create graphs.  I think I prefer Excel because it is easier to revise the charts.  I had to go back and re-do these charts many times, because I am picky.  It's important for graphs to be accurate and clear. (Note:  I was practicing with different graphics.  If these were for actual submission, I would have only used one style of graphic.)

NETS-T:  This activity aligned with:
- Standard 1-b, which states that teachers are to "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources."  Using this program to create the graphs helped me to understand the NAEP data, and made me better able to explain it to others.
- Standard 5a, which states that teachers are to "participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning."  These types of graphs would be useful in presentations to the School board or Local Standards Board (LSB).

How to use:  The 3rd and 4th grade Techsteps require students to make graphics using Excel.  After they have done this once, it would be good for me to introduce the Kids' Zone site as another option.  It is a site worth exploring for many purposes.


Click to read my Online Graphics Assignment 1.

Click to read my Online Graphics Assignment 2.