Lemonade for Sale written by Stuart Murphy, illustrated by Tricia Tusa
The kids in this book set up a lemonade stand and keep track of their sales using a bar graph. It is a great resource for showing students how to make a bar graph and how to chart the data.
The Elm Street Kids Club try to make money to fix up their clubhouse by selling lemonade. All of them have a job to do, but it is Sheri’s job to track their sales. She decides to make a bar graph. “I’ll list the number of cups up the side like this. I’ll show the days of the week along the bottom like this.” Each day she tracks their progress. Their sales increase each day until Thursday when hardley anyone stopped by. The kids do not understand so they decide to set out to find out what is going on. When they find Jed the juggler has just moved there and everyone is watching him instead of buying their lemonade, they come up with a plan. The next day Jed juggles right next to their stand. “We sold so many cups today that our sales are over the top.” They have enough money to rebuild their clubhouse, and they ask Jed to join their club.
Curriculum Connections
This book is a great resource for teaching bar graphs. It talks about how to set them up and how to record the data. It is connected to the VA SOL Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic 4.1 (f) The student will plan and conduct investigations in which data are displayed using bar graph.
Additional Resources
- For a lesson plan on bar graphs check out A to Z Teacher Stuff.
- Students can make their own bar graphs on the computer using Create a Graph.
- January Weather in New York City and Pounds of Newspapers Recycled are just a couple of worksheets you can use when you are working with bar graphs.
- The Bar Graph Dance is a song and dance you can learn and sing with your students to teach the understanding of bar graphs.
- Math Activities for Spring has an activity for bar graphs.
Book: Lemonade for Sale
Author: Stuart J. Murphy
Illustrator: Tricia Tusa
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Publication Date: 1998
Pages: 31 pages
Grade Range: 3-6
ISBN: 9780064467155