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3/12/2026 Helping Students Make Sense of GraphsHand a class a graph and watch what happens. Some students lean in and start pointing at patterns right away. Others stare at it quietly, unsure where to begin. In our classrooms this moment is familiar. Even learners who are comfortable reading texts can feel stuck when information appears in a graph. The issue is rarely motivation. More often, students simply haven’t been shown how to approach a graph in a systematic way. I recently came across the article From Graph Novices to Experts: A Metacognitive Strategy to Help Students Develop Graph Literacy by Tony Matthys, Jenne VandePanne, and Stephanie Tubman, published in Science Scope in December 2025. The article offers a practical approach for teaching this skill more explicitly. At its core is something we don’t always make visible in the classroom: the thinking process behind interpreting a graph. Although the authors designed the lesson for middle school, the core idea translates easily to adult education, particularly in GED and workforce classrooms where students regularly encounter charts, tables, and graphs. Why Graph Literacy Deserves Attention Graphs have become a common way to communicate information. They appear in news stories, workplace reports, public health messages, and policy discussions. Being able to interpret them is part of participating in a data-driven world. Many students, however, develop only partial confidence with graphs. Bar graphs may feel familiar, but once the format changes—a scatterplot, a double-line graph, or a graph with an unusual axis—the task suddenly feels much harder. Students often search quickly for the answer or disengage altogether. When students look at a graph, several things are happening at once. They need to identify what each axis represents, understand the units, notice patterns across the data, and connect those patterns to a larger idea. Without a strategy for navigating these elements, the task can quickly feel overwhelming. Shifting the Focus: From Answers to Process The lesson described in the article takes a slightly different approach. Instead of asking students to jump straight to interpretation, the teacher helps them slow down and notice how they are making sense of the graph. Students annotate the graph as they work. They write directly on it, noting what different elements represent, highlighting patterns, and recording questions that arise as they read the visual information. Over time, students use these annotations to build what the authors call a graph interpretation tool—essentially a set of steps they can follow whenever they encounter a new graph. The process is simple but powerful. Rather than relying on the teacher to explain the graph, students begin to develop their own routine for working through it. One framework referenced in the article summarizes the process with the acronym DATA:
What the Lesson Looks Like The lesson unfolds in several phases that gradually shift responsibility from teacher modeling to student independence. The structure will feel familiar to anyone who has tried to scaffold a new skill in class. It begins with a light entry point. Students examine a humorous graph and discuss what it appears to claim. The conversation focuses less on whether the claim is serious and more on how students figured out what the graph was communicating. This opening discussion surfaces the strategies students already use when approaching graphs. From there, the class moves to a more substantive graph related to race results comparing horses and humans running a marathon-length course. The teacher models how to annotate the graph—pointing out axes, identifying units, and marking patterns—while students record their own notes. Working through the graph together allows students to see the thinking process unfold step by step. Afterward, students begin drafting their personal graph interpretation tools. In small groups they compare their steps with those of their classmates, noticing similarities and gaps. At this stage the lesson introduces an interesting element: students observe experts analyzing the same graphs. Scientists and engineers tend to follow internal routines when reading data visualizations, but those routines are rarely visible to learners. Watching expert thinking gives students additional ideas they can incorporate into their own tools. Finally, students test their interpretation tools on new and unfamiliar graphs. Some include unusual features, such as reversed axes or more complex data sets. As students work through these graphs, they continue annotating and refining their approach. A Simple Way to Try This with Adult Learners This idea adapts easily to GED-level graphs. For example, present a graph showing unemployment rates over time. Before asking any interpretation questions, invite students to annotate the graph together. Encourage them to mark the axes, identify units, circle patterns, and write questions directly on the image. Then ask a different kind of question: “What steps did you use to figure this out?” Those steps become the starting point for a class-generated interpretation tool. Over time, students can refine that tool and use it whenever they encounter graphs in reading passages or exam questions. Strategies like this work best when teachers adapt them to their own classrooms. Now, what’s your idea? How do you help students approach graphs in your classroom? Happy Teaching! Lizelena 2/18/2026 Level up your Students’ Media LiteracyIn an era of digital noise, teaching adult learners to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information isn’t just a curriculum requirement - it's a survival skill. For adults making critical health decisions, or navigating policy, the stakes of being misled are incredibly high.
I am sharing with you today the Fact Checking 102 Guide, published by Douglas Allchin for the Science Teacher journal this past 2025. Most of us already teach the basics of fact checking like stopping to check a source or tracing a claim back to its original source. But for our learners the challenge is often deeper than just finding the source; it’s about knowing who to trust and why. The Fact Checking 102 Guide moves past just “finding facts” and starts looking at how to judge a source’s reputation. By teaching our students how to spot a solid track record of reliability versus a well disguised sales pitch, we give them the tools to make confident informed decisions for their families and communities. The Foundation: Fact Checking 101 Before the students experience 102, they need the 101 Basics, most media literacy starts with the SIFT method:
While SIFT is a great start, our learners face more sophisticated challenges and level 102 isn’t just about finding the source, it is about judging the reputation of that source. It is moving past “is this true?” to “why should I judge this person?” Fact Checking 102 is the deeper dive into SIFT—especially Expertise and Consensus—to understand when trust is actually warranted. Practical Strategies for your Classroom Adapted from the Article Unmasking Conflicts of Interest: motivation matters because power, profit, and privilege are powerful engines for misleading the public.
Trust is a "Track Record": most of us often think of trust as a personal feeling or a moral virtue. We need to redefine intellectual trust as something objective.
The "Consensus" vs. The "Maverick": misinformation often relies on a "lone wolf" scientist who claims to have the "truth" that everyone else is hiding.
Lizelena Project-Based Learning (PBL) doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it’s clearly named and intentionally designed. Other times, it shows up quietly—in the way lessons connect, questions deepen, and learners stay with a topic long enough to really care about it.
During two recent classroom observations, I saw both versions. Different approaches, same powerful results. Together, they offer a helpful reminder: PBL is less about labels and more about intentional design. Classroom Example 1: When the Project Leads the Learning In the first classroom, the teacher was very clear: this was a PBL. And it showed! Students were working through a career planning and budgeting project grounded in a realistic case scenario. They were introduced to a person with career goals and financial challenges and asked to figure out: What advice would you give? What information do you need to make smart decisions? Right away, learners were positioned as problem-solvers. As the project unfolded, students:
The project wrapped up with a “My Future, My Plan” product. Learners chose how to present their work—portfolios, infographics, posters, or other formats—highlighting their career path, budget, and reflections. With co-teaching in place, students received support without losing ownership. Why this matters: This is PBL in its clearest form—authentic, sustained, student-centered, and deeply relevant to adult learners’ lives. Classroom Example 2: A Unit That Feels Like PBL (Even If It’s Not Called That) In the second classroom, the teacher didn’t describe the work as PBL. But as the Women and Their Right to Vote unit unfolded, it was hard not to notice how closely it aligned with PBL principles. Starting with a Smart Entry Point Instead of jumping straight into history, the unit began with a single word: suffrage. Learners explored its meaning, connotations, and relevance before digging into historical events. This simple move did a lot of heavy lifting—building background knowledge, supporting vocabulary, and inviting learners into the topic through language. From there, students wrestled with big questions:
Skills Working Together This unit was a strong example of multidisciplinary instruction done well:
Thoughful Assessment and Visible Impact The unit concluded with an open-book multiple-choice assessment, complemented by film analysis and summarizing tasks. This approach mirrors real-world demands where adults must locate information, review documents, and make informed decisions. Perhaps most telling was the display of student writing outside the classroom. One learner shared: “I’m so proud of this work. It was hard, and it didn’t get done in a day or even a week.” That statement captures a key outcome of effective PBL: persistence, ownership, and pride. What These Classrooms Teach Us About PBL Across both observations, several themes emerged:
Entry Points for Programs and Teachers Programs looking to integrate or strengthen PBL can start small and build intentionally:
Final Reflection Project-Based Learning in adult education is not about adopting a new label—it is about designing learning experiences that are coherent, purposeful, and meaningful. Whether the project drives the curriculum or anchors a strong unit, PBL creates space for adults to engage deeply, think critically, and take pride in their learning. A Final Note of Thanks (and a Funny Coincidence) Before closing, I want to extend a sincere thank-you to both teachers who opened their classrooms for these observations. By pure coincidence (and truly unplanned), both of their names are John. Different contexts, different approaches—same commitment to thoughtful, learner-centered instruction. Their willingness to reflect on practice and invite feedback is exactly what strengthens adult education across programs. We learn from one another when we share what’s really happening in classrooms. Thank you, John and John, for the powerful learning experiences you’re creating every day. Helpful Resources for Exploring PBL and Multidisciplinary Instruction If these examples sparked ideas, the following resources offer practical tools and inspiration:
Happy Teaching! Lizelena |
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