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Reading a Bar Graph

4th grade nonfiction passage about graphs and data: 183 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction graphs and data 183 words

Reading a Bar Graph

A bar graph is a picture that helps you compare numbers. Imagine that a class votes for favorite fruits. Eight kids pick apples, five pick bananas, three pick grapes, and six pick oranges. You could write the numbers in a list, but a bar graph makes the results easier to see.

Every bar graph has a title that tells what it is about. Ours might be called Favorite Fruits. A bar graph also has labels along the bottom that tell what each bar means, such as apples, bananas, grapes, and oranges. Along the side is a number line, called a scale, that shows how many votes each bar stands for.

Each fruit gets a bar. The taller the bar, the more votes the fruit got. The apple bar is the tallest because it has eight votes. The grape bar is the shortest because it has only three.

To read a graph, look at the top of a bar and slide your eyes over to the scale. You can quickly see which fruit won and by how many votes. Apples beat bananas by three.

Questions

  1. What does a bar graph help you do? in the text

  2. What does the title of a bar graph tell you? in the text

  3. What does the scale along the side show? in the text

  4. Which fruit has the shortest bar, and why? think about it

  5. How many more votes did apples get than bananas? in the text

  6. How do you read the height of a bar? in the text

Words to know

compare
to look at things to see how they are alike and different
labels
words that tell what something is
scale
a set of numbers that shows how much something is worth
results
the answers or counts you end up with
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 168 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

A bar graph is a picture that helps you compare numbers. Say a class votes for favorite fruits. Eight kids pick apples. Five pick bananas. Three pick grapes. Six pick oranges. You could write the numbers in a list. But a bar graph makes the results easy to see.

Every bar graph has a title that tells what it is about. Ours might be called Favorite Fruits. Labels along the bottom tell what each bar means, such as apples, bananas, grapes, and oranges. Along the side is a number line called a scale. It shows how many votes each bar stands for.

Each fruit gets a bar. The taller the bar, the more votes. The apple bar is the tallest. It has eight votes. The grape bar is the shortest. It has only three.

To read a graph, look at the top of a bar. Slide your eyes over to the scale. You can see which fruit won and by how many votes. Apples beat bananas by three.

▲ This passage · 183 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

A bar graph is a picture that helps you compare numbers. Imagine that a class votes for favorite fruits. Eight kids pick apples, five pick bananas, three pick grapes, and six pick oranges. You could write the numbers in a list, but a bar graph makes the results easier to see.

Every bar graph has a title that tells what it is about. Ours might be called Favorite Fruits. A bar graph also has labels along the bottom that tell what each bar means, such as apples, bananas, grapes, and oranges. Along the side is a number line, called a scale, that shows how many votes each bar stands for.

Each fruit gets a bar. The taller the bar, the more votes the fruit got. The apple bar is the tallest because it has eight votes. The grape bar is the shortest because it has only three.

To read a graph, look at the top of a bar and slide your eyes over to the scale. You can quickly see which fruit won and by how many votes. Apples beat bananas by three.

■ Harder · 194 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6

A bar graph is a visual display that helps you compare numbers. Imagine that a class votes for its favorite fruits. Eight students choose apples, five choose bananas, three choose grapes, and six choose oranges. You could record the numbers in a list, but a bar graph makes the results much easier to interpret at a glance.

Every bar graph has a title that explains what it is about, and ours might be called Favorite Fruits. A bar graph also has labels along the bottom that identify what each bar represents, such as apples, bananas, grapes, and oranges. Running along the side is a number line, called a scale, that indicates how many votes each bar stands for.

Each fruit receives its own bar, and the taller the bar, the more votes that fruit earned. The apple bar is the tallest because it has eight votes, while the grape bar is the shortest because it has only three.

To read a graph, look at the top of a bar and slide your eyes over to the scale. You can quickly determine which fruit won and by how many votes. Apples beat bananas by three.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put compare, labels, scale and results on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 4 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Reading a Bar Graph"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 183 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.1. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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