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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Reading Different Text Forms: Reading Graphical Texts (Reading Graphs)

MATHEMATICS

Graphical text forms (such as diagrams, photographs, drawings, sketches, graphs, schedules, maps, charts,
timelines, and tables) are intended to communicate information in a concise format and illustrate how one
piece of information is related to another. Providing students with an approach to reading graphical text also
helps them to become effective readers.

Purpose
• Become familiar with the elements and features of graphical texts used in any course.
• Explore a process for reading graphical texts, using a range of strategies for before, during, and after
reading.

Payoff
Students will:
• become more efficient at “mining” graphical texts for information and meaning.
• practise essential reading strategies and apply them to different course-related materials.

Tips and Resources

• Friel, Curcio, and Bright (2001) define students’ graph comprehension as being able to read and make
sense of graphs created by others or by themselves. There are three levels of graph comprehension:
- reading the data (literal);
- reading between the data (making comparisons, observing relationships);
- reading beyond the data (making inferences, predictions).
• “Students develop graph sense gradually as a result of creating graphs and using already designed
graphs in a variety of problem contexts that require making sense of data.” (Friel, Curcio, and Bright,
2001)
• When interpreting graphs, it is important that students have ample opportunity to explain and justify their
reasoning and receive feedback from others. Paired or small group activities are recommended.
• Making students aware of the similar structural components and conventions that graphs share will help
them to read new graphs that they encounter. (See Student/Teacher Resource, Reading Graphs –
Features of Two Variable Graphs.)
• Current magazines and newspapers can be great resources for graphs, especially when focusing on
biased and misleading graphs.
• Technology-rich environments, in which students can explore and experiment with graphs, may be helpful
in developing the kind of flexible thinking that supports the understanding of graphs.
• Providing graphs with no scale or units on the axes helps students to focus on the qualitative meaning of
the graph, developing their ability to read between and beyond the data. (See Student Resource,
Reading Graphs – Reading Between the Data.)
• Help students to make connections between reading graphs and activities requiring similar skills in which
they have experience e.g., playing grid-based board games (e.g., Chess, Sink the Ship), using
spreadsheets, and reading maps.
• The supporting resources for this strategy include the Student/Teacher Resource, Reading Graphs – A
Four Step Process, and examples for three of the steps.
• See Student Resource, Reading Beyond the Data.
• See Teacher Resource, Reading Graphs – Answers to Student Resources.

Further Support
• Provide students with an advance organizer to guide them as they read a particular graphical text. This
might be a series of prompts to guide them through the reading task.

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Reading Different Text Forms: Reading Graphical Texts (Reading Graphs)

MATHEMATICS

What teachers do What students do

Before N otes
• Ask students to brainstorm the purposes and • Individually brainstorm purposes and
features of the type of graph in question. features of the type of graph in
• Read the title and ask students to recall what they question.
already know about the topic. • Recall prior knowledge related to the
• Model (using “think aloud”) how to predict the title of the graph.
content of the graph based on the title, labels, and • Predict what the graph might show.
type of graph. Invite students to predict what the
graph might show.
During
• Discuss the four levels of reading graphs. (See
Student/Teacher Resource, The Four Levels of
Reading Graphs: A Four Step Process).
Previewing the Graph:
- Provide students with questions that focus on the • Work with partners to discuss the focus
basic elements of the graph. questions provided.
For example: • Ask questions to clarify understanding
- What does the title tell us about the information in of the basic elements of the graph.
the graph?
- What information is provided in the label on the
horizontal axis? vertical axis?
- What are the units in the scale? What is the range
of values? By what increment does the scale
increase?
Reading the Data (literal):
- Use the labels and scales on the axes to read or • Read specific data on a given graph.
locate specific information on the graph. For example, place the top right corner
Reading Between the Data (making comparisons): of a rectangular piece of acetate on the
- Encourage students to make comparisons and look data point and follow the edges of the
for relationships in the data. acetate back to the two axes to read the
- Pose comparison questions related to the data information on each axis.
using phrases such as “Which is greater?” and • Look for relationships in the data and
“How did the value change?” make comparisons in the data. Discuss
- Explore some “what if” statements. For example, these comparisons in the data with
what if the data point was placed a little to the left? partners.
right? down? up? Compare what happens when • Investigate “what if” statements posed
you move diagonally up to left in the graph versus by the teacher.
down to the right.
After
Reading Beyond the Data (making inferences and • Work with partners to identify trends,
drawing conclusions): make predictions, extend the data, or
- Encourage students to synthesize the information draw inferences from the data.
in the graph. Pose questions that lead students to • Individually record thinking by
identify trends, make predictions, extend the data, answering questions related to the
or draw inferences. graph.
• Identify strategies for reading graphs
that can be used in the future.

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Student/Teacher Resource

Reading Graphs – A Four Step Process

I. Previewing the Graph

Before answering any questions about the information in a graph, try to

understand the basic elements of the graph:

• What type of graph is it? (e.g. pictograph, bar graph, line graph, scatter
plot, circle graph)
• What does the title tell you about the information in the graph?
• Read the labels on each axis.
• What are the units for the scales?
• Read the legend (if there is one).

II. Reading the Data

Some questions about data can be answered by stating a fact directly from the
graph. To answer these types of questions, use the labels and scale on the
horizontal and vertical axes to read or locate specific information on the graph.

III. Reading Between the Data

The answers to some questions require that you interpret information by

identifying relationships and trends within the graph. Compare two or more
points on the graph to determine a relationship or trend (see Student Resource,
Reading Graphs – Reading Between the Data, questions 1-4).

IV. Reading Beyond the Data

Some questions about data in graphs ask you to extend, predict, or infer an
answer using your own prior knowledge and experience. To read beyond the
data is to draw conclusions from evidence in the graph.

• Identify your own knowledge and experience related to the question.

• Consider the evidence in the graph that supports your prediction or
conclusion.
• See Student Resources, Reading Graphs – Reading Between the Data,
questions 5-7 and Reading Graphs – Reading Beyond the Data.

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Student/Teacher Resource

Reading Graphs – Features of Two Variable Graphs

Graphs with an “L-shaped” framework are used to organize and analyze information about
two variables, e.g., weight and cost, time and distance, colour and number.

The variables can vary by quantity or by type,

e.g., “Cost” varies by quantity ($2, $5) whereas “colour” varies by type (blue, red).

The horizontal axis is used to show the quantity (e.g. $2) or type (e.g. blue) of one of the
two variables. This variable is called the independent variable.

The second variable is called the dependent variable.

The vertical axis is a number line, used to show the quantity of the second variable.

The axes are usually labeled with the name of the variable and units of measure if
applicable e.g., Cost ($). When both axes are number lines then the location of the data
point (0, 0) is called origin.

Title
The title provides an introduction to
the data contained within the graph.

Label
The vertical
How do I know
axis is used to which variable is
show different the independent
Data can be represented in a variable?
quantities of How do I draw a
the second variety of ways, for example, by scale?

variable. points in a scatter plot, lines on a

This axis needs line graph, or bars on a bar
a scale and graph.
units of
measure.

Label
The horizontal axis is used to show different quantities or different
types of the first variable. When the axis is used to show different
quantities then it needs a scale and units of measure.

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Student Resource

Reading Graphs - Reading Between the Data

Bulk Birdseed
Seven different sized bags of birdseed are available for sale at the costs represented in
the graph below. Each point represents information about one bag of birdseed.

.F
.E
Cost ($)
.D
.A .C
.B

Mass (kg)

Answer the following questions and justify your reasoning.

1. Which bag is the lightest?

2. Which bag is the most expensive?

3. Which bags have the same mass?

4. Which bags cost the same?

5. Does bag F or bag C give you better value for your money?

6. Does bag B or bag D give you better value for your money?

7. Which two bags give you about the same value for your money?

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Student Resource

Reading Graphs - Reading Beyond the Data

Think/Pair/Share Activity

1. Think: Study the graph below. Think about what is happening as the
afternoon drive unfolds. Write down possible explanations for the
changes in the car’s speed.

An Afternoon Drive

Speed
(km/h)

Time (h)

2. Pair: With a partner, discuss what might be happening as the afternoon

drive unfolds. Compare your ideas to clarify your understanding of the
graph.

3. Share: Share your ideas with the whole class. Ask questions to further
clarify your understanding of the graph.

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THINK LITERACY: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12

Teacher Resource

Reading Graphs - Answers to Student Resources

Answers to “Bulk Birdseed”

1. Bag A is the lightest.
2. Bag F is the most expensive.
3. Bags B and F have the same mass, and bags C and E have the same mass.
4. Bags A and C cost the same.
5. Bag C has a better value for your money because it has a greater mass than bag F but costs less than
bag F. (Point C is further right than point F which means bag C’s mass is greater than bag F’s mass.
Point C is lower down than point F which means bag C costs less than bag F.)
6. Bag B has a better value for your money because although its mass is about half the mass of bag D, its
cost is less than half the cost of bag D. (The cost/mass ratio for bag B is less than bag D’s.)
7. Bags B and C give about the same value for your money. (The cost/mass ratio for the two bags is the
same. If a line is drawn from origin to point B and extended past point B, the line goes through point C.
The cost/mass ratio is the same for any two points on this line.)

Consider asking students to pose additional questions for this graph e.g., How would the information about
bag A change if point A was moved lower but not left or right?

Sample Explanation for the Graph, “An Afternoon Drive”

The car begins from home with a fairly constant acceleration to a reasonable city/town street speed. It
travels at this speed for a time before stopping at a traffic light/stop sign. The car then continues on the trip,
entering a highway/expressway to travel at a greater speed for a time. The car slows down as it exits the
highway then speeds up again as it travels along another city/town street. Finally, the car slows down before
turning and driving slowly up a long driveway to its destination.

Consider asking students to pose additional questions for this graph e.g., How would you describe the
afternoon drive if the vertical axis was labeled “Distance” instead of “Speed”?

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