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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
It’s still unknown why dinosaurs hold such a fascination for kindergarten students. By the time they reach middle school, only a few dino fans remain, but you can guarantee that most students in your kindergarten class will be able to tell you the difference between an apatosaurus and a diplodocus, and can read these incredible complex, multi-syllable words like a Harvard professor. It makes sense, therefore, to tap into this obsession with a classroom dinosaur theme for a few weeks. There’s plenty of fun decorating to do, and you’ll drive up learning engagement by bringing dinosaur shapes and pictures into your centers. This cute dino themed kindergarten graphing worksheet will play to their strengths while also giving them practice with data interpretation.
Why Teach Data Interpretation In Kindergarten
It may feel like an upper grades skill to be able to chart and talk about data in graphical form, but it all stems from the foundations you put down in kindergarten. Being able to visualize complex data sets in an easily digestible manner helps young students to make sense of the world around them, and making bar charts is the easiest way to do this. Bar charts also normalize the size of groups, so you can easily tell whether a group of elephants or grapes has more members without getting confused by the size of the objects. This roll and graph activity helps students to present their work in chart form, and also helps them talk about frequency and early probability.
Preparing Dinosaur Roll and Graph Activity
For this activity you will need:
Paper
Printer
Writing tools or token to mark on the graph
Glue to form the printbale dice included
Optional: laminator
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Extending This Dinosaur Graphing Activity
The idea behind this data interpretation dinosaur graphing activity is simple. Students roll the pre-made die and mark off which of the six dinosaur shapes was shown. They then repeat till one shape has been rolled either 5 or 10 times. To push their thinking and get more from this fun kindergarten graphing worksheet, try some of these extension activities:
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Create comparison number sentences – bar charts are an excellent way to visualize number comparisons as it’s easy to read horizontally to see which of two groups has the greatest number. In this dinosaur graphing activity, students can make statements like “I rolled more square dinosaurs than star dinosaurs” and can give you the numbers to back up their conjecture.
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Data analysis – part of the fun of data interpretation in kindergarten is using the data to make predictions about the future. Start by having individual students look at their completed bar chart (once they’ve rolled 5 or 10 of one particular dinosaur) and make a prediction on what shape they think will happen next. You can then collect data from a small group or the entire class to see if there are common patterns that might help predict what dice roll would come next.
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Doubles rolling game – finally, you can introduce some SEL work by playing the doubles game. Simply put two students together, and have them roll the dice together, counting how many times they can do it before rolling a double. They’ll take turns, talk about the game, share their successes and commiserate together. It’s a no skill game that provides a fun 5 minute brain break, and they’ll love trying to become the dinosaur dice champions.
Get More Dinosaur Shapes Activities:
This Dinosaur 2D Shapes Activity Packet harnesses all that dinosaur excitement! It includes anchor charts, clip cards, worksheets, shape mats and more! Check it out here.
Fun Books About Dinosaurs:
Other Dinosaur Printables You’ll Love:
1) Dinosaur Printable Worksheets Pack – 50-page pack for your little one to practice letter recognition, writing, counting, graphing, tracing, coloring and so much more.
2) Dinosaur On The Run Tracing Lines – Improve fine motor skills and concentration at the same time. There are more than 10 different patterns to choose from.
3) Dinosaur Themed Literacy and Math Centers – 10 fun literacy and math games for preschool and kindergarten.
4) Dinosaur Shapes Roll and Graph Activity – Dice game to help with learning shapes and counting to 5.
5) Letter-saurus Fossil Digging – Preschoolers will love pretending to be a paleontologist so grab this free printable game and start working on letter recognition.
Your Students Will Also Love These:
Browse My Most Popular Math Printables:
1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.
2) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – 3 different scarecrow-themed image sets that they will arrange from smallest to biggest.
3) Bumblebee Addition Game – Solve the sum and help the bee land on the correct flower!
4) Farm Shapes Mats – Use playdough, pompoms, stickers etc to learn 2D shapes.
5) Popsicle Stick Number Formation – Kids will love forming the numbers 1 to 10 when ice cream and popsicles are involved!
6) Valentines Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of mixed literacy and math activities.
7) Zoo Animals Number Puzzle Strips – Complete these cute puzzles and learn the numbers 1 to 20.
8) Counting Colorful Bugs – This printable book will help kids count to 10 while also learning about color words.
9) Humpty Dumpty Numbers – In this printable game, your students will practice number recognition using 1 dice or simple addition when using 2 dice.
10) Build A Number Santa – Match the number to the correct number word, tally mark and domino to form a Santa Claus
