Gridded Dry Erase Boards: Which Grid for Which Math Lesson
A grid printed on a student whiteboard does something a blank board can't: it gives every student the same reference lines. Squares stay square, axes stay straight, and a bar graph drawn by a seventh grader is actually readable from across the room. The question isn't whether to use gridded boards; it's which grid, because the one that's perfect for plotting parabolas is the wrong tool for teaching place value.
Here's how our gridded boards differ, and which one fits your classroom.
Which grid for which job
| Board | What's printed on it | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Count Graphboard | 100 one-inch squares with an X/Y axis | Early elementary: place value, arrays, bar graphs, ten frames |
| 10 Frames Board | Three sets of ten frames, a number bond diagram, a 0–20 number path | PreK–1: counting, composing and decomposing numbers |
| Rulerboard | Inch and centimeter rulers, place-value columns with a decimal point, number line | Grades 3–5: measurement, decimals, neat math columns |
| Graphboard | 20 × 20 grid of ½-inch squares, every 5th line accented, blank work column at the side | Algebra I and up: slopes, parabolas, coordinate plotting |
| Centimeter Graphboard | True centimeter grid | Middle and high school math and science: metric measurement, scaled drawings |
| X-Y Centimeter Board | Centimeter grid with a full X-Y coordinate plane | High school and college: graphing in metric units |
| Base 10 Graphboard | Base ten grid | Advanced math and science: place value at scale, data tables |
The detail most grid comparisons miss: the back is blank
Every gridded board we make is double-sided: grid on the front, plain white dry erase on the back. That single fact changes the buying decision. You aren't trading a general-purpose whiteboard for a specialized one; you're getting both, and a student flips the board over when the lesson changes. A class set of Graphboards covers the graphing unit in the morning and works as ordinary response boards in the afternoon.
It also means you can standardize. Rather than buying blank boards plus grid boards and sorting them into two bins, one set does both jobs.
Why the Graphboard's side column matters
The Graphboard reserves a narrow blank column beside the grid. It looks like wasted space until you watch a class use it: students show the work in the column and the graph on the grid, side by side, on one surface. When boards go up for a check, you can see both the answer and the reasoning in a single glance, which is most of the reason to run whiteboards for math in the first place.
The 20 × 20 grid with every fifth line accented is sized for Algebra I. Students can plot in the first quadrant from the bottom-left corner, or treat the center as the origin and work all four quadrants. Slopes, parabolas, bar graphs, or several small graphs at once all fit the same board.
Running gridded boards in class
- Pose, plot, flip. Give a problem, let students plot it, then have everyone turn boards around at once. You get a whole-class read on who has it in about four seconds, far faster than circulating.
- Let the grid do the correcting. When a student's line is off, the squares make it visible to them before you say anything. That's a different kind of feedback than a red mark on a worksheet.
- Grid front, work back. For multi-step problems, students set up on the blank side and graph on the grid side.
- Skip the scrap paper. A class set replaces the graph-paper handouts that get printed, used once, and recycled.
Sizes and construction
Student boards come in 9" × 12" and 11" × 16". The 11" × 16" is the classroom standard: big enough for a full coordinate plane and still fits a desk beside a textbook. The 9" × 12" suits tighter desks and younger hands.
Every board is a solid 1/8" panel with a non-porous, goof-proof dry erase surface and rounded edges and corners. No frame to catch, no laminate to peel.
For the front of the room, the Graphboard with Handle puts the same 20 × 20 grid on a 24" × 24" or 24" × 36" panel with a built-in handle, so it hangs on a hook or gets held up during modeling. Pair one at the board with a class set at the desks and the whole room is working on the same grid.
Getting started
If you're outfitting a class for the first time, the combo kits pair each board with markers and erasers in matched counts. For guidance on how many boards to order and how often markers need replacing, see the class set buying guide; for choosing between 9" × 12" and 11" × 16", see the whiteboard size guide.
Browse all gridded and graphing boards, or the full math board range.