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Lesson plan Grade 2 Math

Two Weeks of Rain at Hazelbrook: A Grade 2 Line Plot Lesson

A 35-minute grade 2 lesson where students plot ten days of Hazelbrook's rainfall record on a line plot and use it to answer compare and total questions.

Objectives

  1. Students will record measurement data on a line plot with a whole-number scale.
  2. Students will use a completed line plot to answer put-together and compare questions.
  3. Students will identify which measurement occurred most often in a data set.

Vocabulary

Key words: line plot, data, scale, whole number

Teacher overview

Hazelbrook Elementary (a fictional school used for this lesson) keeps a rain gauge outside the classroom window, and this lesson uses a two-week record from that gauge to teach students how to build and read a line plot. Rather than waiting on real weather, students work from a printed table of ten school days' rainfall so every class can practice the same data on the same day. A common misconception in this lesson is that the X's on a line plot represent the days in order from left to right; in fact, each X stands for one day, and the X's above a number show how many days recorded that exact amount, and the guided practice is built to catch that mix-up directly.

By the end of the lesson, students will have turned a table of numbers into a picture they can read at a glance, then answered several questions using that picture instead of the original table. The lesson closes with an exit ticket that checks whether students can extend the plot with one more day of data.

Procedure

Minutes 0-5 -- Hook: Show the printed table of ten days' rainfall (in whole centimeters): Day 1: 1, Day 2: 0, Day 3: 2, Day 4: 1, Day 5: 0, Day 6: 3, Day 7: 1, Day 8: 2, Day 9: 1, Day 10: 0. Ask students: "Just by looking at this list, can you tell me quickly which amount of rain happened most often?" Let a few students try and notice it takes a while to scan the whole list. Tell them a line plot will make that question much faster to answer.

Minutes 5-15 -- Direct instruction: Draw a number line on the board from 0 to 3, labeled "Centimeters of rain." Explain that for every day in the table, we draw one X above the matching number. Model the first three days together (Day 1 gets an X above 1, Day 2 gets an X above 0, Day 3 gets an X above 2), narrating aloud: "One X for one day, right above its number."

Minutes 15-25 -- Guided practice: As a class, finish plotting Days 4 through 10 together, calling out each day's amount before placing the X. When finished, count the X's above each number together and confirm the total (10 X's for 10 days).

Minutes 25-32 -- Independent practice: Students use their own copy of the completed line plot to answer four questions on their handout:

  1. How many days had exactly 1 centimeter of rain?
  2. How many more days had 0 centimeters of rain than 3 centimeters of rain?
  3. What was the total rainfall over the ten school days, adding every day's amount together?
  4. Which rainfall amount occurred least often?

Minutes 32-35 -- Closure / exit ticket: Students answer one question on an index card: "If the class added an 11th day with 2 centimeters of rain, how many days total would show 2 centimeters on the line plot?" Collect cards and scan for the correct method before dismissal.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 4 days. Days 1, 4, 7, and 9 each show 1 centimeter of rain, plotted as four X's above the 1 mark on the line plot.
  2. Answer: 2 more days. Three days (2, 5, 10) had 0 centimeters; one day (6) had 3 centimeters; 3 minus 1 equals 2.
  3. Answer: 11 centimeters. Adding every day's rainfall (1 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 0 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 0) equals 11 centimeters in total.
  4. Answer: 3 centimeters. Only one day (Day 6) recorded 3 centimeters, fewer days than any other amount on the plot.
  5. Exit ticket answer: 3 days. Two days already show 2 centimeters (Days 3 and 8); adding one more day at 2 centimeters would make three days show that amount.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a pre-drawn number line already labeled from 0 to 3, and a line plot with five of the ten X's already placed, so students only need to add the remaining five. Allow students to make tally marks first and convert them to X's afterward if that feels more familiar.

Extension

Ask students to write one new compare question of their own using the completed line plot (for example, comparing two different rainfall amounts), trade with a partner, and check each other's answers together.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "line plot," "scale," and "whole number" with a simple three-day example on the board before working with the full ten-day data set. Allow students to point to the correct X or number on the plot when answering questions 1 through 4, rather than writing full sentences.

Extensions

If your classroom has an outdoor rain gauge, start a new two-week collection as a follow-up and build a fresh line plot using real, current data instead of the provided table.