What Do You Love? Graphing With Art

Make magnificent magnets to use when you take a vote on Valentine's Day to find out your friend's favorites!

• 1.

  Imagine traditional and new symbols representing Valentine's Day. Research the holiday to find its traditions.

• 2.

  Cut a 3-inch (7 cm) square of poster board or thin recycled cardboard.

• 3.

  On this base, design a unique, colorful symbol for Valentine's Day with Crayola Markers.

• 4.

  Cut colorful strips of construction paper. Decorate strips with Crayola Construction Paper Crayons.

• 5.

  Loop, fold, and twist strips into expressive 3-dimensional arrangements on the square base. Glue on strips. Air-dry flat.

• 6.

  Attach magnet tape to the back of the base.

• 7.

  In small groups, design surveys to determine classmates' favorite things, such as music, colors, events, or foods. Work together to create pictures for the choices in each category.

• 8.

  Conduct your survey. Post pictures in a column on a magnetic board. Invite classmates to place their Valentine magnets in rows behind each category to record their votes.

• 9.

  Analyze the results and report the results and your interpretations to the group in an oral summary.

Benefits

• Students examine visual, tactile, spatial, and temporal elements as they construct individual Valentine's Day symbols.
• Children pose information questions, collect data, and record the results using keepsake Valentine's Day magnets, pictures, and picture graphs.
• Students analyze data from their surveys and present their findings orally to the group.

Adaptations

• Older students create their own pictographs of the survey information using markers or colored pencils. Each child's pictograph collection is an assessment tool.
• Children with limited writing skills might use Crayola MiniStampers to record survey results in miniature pictographs on graph paper.
• Conduct similar surveys for other widely celebrated holidays such as children's birthdays.