{"id":44556,"date":"2015-05-06T00:45:01","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T09:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/?p=44556"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T18:06:12","slug":"79-excel-turns-data-into-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/79-excel-turns-data-into-information\/","title":{"rendered":"#79: Excel Turns Data Into Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Over the next few months, we\u2019ll provide a series of lessons on spreadsheet basics you can use in your K-8 classroom. Here are some of the topics we\u2019ll cover:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. #74: Mastering Excel (for Beginners)<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  2. #71: Beginning Graphs in MS Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  3. #70: Create a Timecard in Excel for Grade Two and Up<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  4. #73: How to Graph in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  5. #12: Create Simple Shapes in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  6. #75: Tessellations in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  7. #72: How to Check Your Math in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  8. How to Use Excel to Teach Math Arrays<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  9. #62: Email from Word (Or PowerPoint or Excel)<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
  10. #79: Excel Turns Data Into Information<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Today<\/strong>:<\/h1>\n

    Sometimes, it takes a picture to really show what you\u2019re trying to say. It doesn\u2019t have to be drawn with pencils or paint brushes. Sometimes, it\u2019s a graph or a chart, formatted to clarify important points.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s called Excel. Words and numbers are always black and white and the same size. Excel never is. There are twenty-two Excel skills<\/a> I teach grades 3-5 that turn Excel into a useful tool in their classroom. This covers the first fourteen.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    Jacqui Murray<\/a>\u00a0has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor\/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a\u00a0K-12 technology curriculum<\/a>,\u00a0K-8 keyboard curriculum,<\/a>\u00a0K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum<\/a>. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an\u00a0Amazon Vine Voice<\/a>, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to\u00a0NEA Today<\/a>, and author of the tech thrillers,\u00a0To Hunt a Sub<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twenty-four Days<\/strong><\/a>. You can find her resources at\u00a0Structured Learning.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    <\/p>\n

    Over the next few months, we\u2019ll provide a series of lessons on spreadsheet basics you can use in your K-8 classroom. Here are some of the topics we\u2019ll cover:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. #74: Mastering Excel (for Beginners)<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    2. #71: Beginning Graphs in MS Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    3. #70: Create a Timecard in Excel for Grade Two and Up<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    4. #73: How to Graph in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    5. #12: Create Simple Shapes in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    6. #75: Tessellations in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    7. #72: How to Check Your Math in Excel<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    8. How to Use Excel to Teach Math Arrays<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    9. #62: Email from Word (Or PowerPoint or Excel)<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
    10. #79: Excel Turns Data Into Information<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Today<\/strong>:<\/h1>\n

      Sometimes, it takes a picture to really show what you\u2019re trying to say. It doesn\u2019t have to be drawn with pencils or paint brushes. Sometimes, it\u2019s a graph or a chart, formatted to clarify important points.<\/p>\n

      That\u2019s called Excel. Words and numbers are always black and white and the same size. Excel never is. There are twenty-two Excel skills<\/a> I teach grades 3-5 that turn Excel into a useful tool in their classroom. This covers the first fourteen.<\/span><\/p>\n

      If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

      (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3093363770679689_136588513038010":"","twitter_134161434_134161434":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[416,3,50,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monday-freebies","category-lesson-plans","category-math","category-spreadsheets","wpcat-416-id","wpcat-3-id","wpcat-50-id","wpcat-92-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/chart-excel.gif?fit=565%2C361&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/wp.me\/pZUgb-bAE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64645,"url":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/71-beginning-graphs-in-ms-excel-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":44556,"position":0},"title":"#71: Beginning Graphs in MS Excel","author":"Jacqui","date":"March 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Use a template with the topics at the bottom as pictures and numbers along the side. Students use the paint bucket to fill in cells to the right number\/level. Great introduction to Excel and collaboration with classroom exploration of math concepts","rel":"","context":"In "Freebies\/Discounts"","block_context":{"text":"Freebies\/Discounts","link":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/category\/monday-freebies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-whats-in-the-news-instagramt-600-%C3%97-200-px-Instagram-Post-Square-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-whats-in-the-news-instagramt-600-%C3%97-200-px-Instagram-Post-Square-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-whats-in-the-news-instagramt-600-%C3%97-200-px-Instagram-Post-Square-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-whats-in-the-news-instagramt-600-%C3%97-200-px-Instagram-Post-Square-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-whats-in-the-news-instagramt-600-%C3%97-200-px-Instagram-Post-Square-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72595,"url":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/excel-series-update-links\/","url_meta":{"origin":44556,"position":1},"title":"Excel (or Spreadsheets) — the series","author":"Jacqui","date":"October 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most popular applications of math is through spreadsheets (like Excel) that make numbers relevant to everyday life. Many think this is too complicated, too cerebral, someone can do it but not them--they'd be wrong. I start my students in 1st grade with spreadsheets (though they don't call\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lesson plans"","block_context":{"text":"Lesson plans","link":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/category\/lesson-plans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spreadsheet-Lesson.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spreadsheet-Lesson.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spreadsheet-Lesson.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spreadsheet-Lesson.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/i0.wp.com\/askatechteacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spreadsheet-Lesson.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68067,"url":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/askatechteacher.com\/72-how-to-check-your-math-in-excel-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":44556,"position":2},"title":"#72: How to Check Your Math in a Spreadsheet","author":"Jacqui","date":"February 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the next few months, we\u2019ll provide a series of lessons on spreadsheet basics you can use in your K-8 classroom. 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