Activity 01
Our Class Favourites
As a whole class, decide on a topic to survey, like 'favourite season' or 'favourite fruit'. Each pupil votes, and you create a large pictogram on the board together, with each child drawing their picture in the correct column.
Identify the most popular choice on the pictogram.
Facilitation TipUse a grid on the board to help pupils line up their pictures neatly, making visual comparison easier.
What to look forObserve pupils as they work in pairs on the 'Pictogram Puzzles' activity. Listen to their discussions and note their use of key vocabulary and their ability to answer the questions.
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Activity 02
Lunchbox Detectives
In small groups, pupils examine their lunchboxes and tally the number of different items (e.g., apples, yoghurts, sandwiches). They then work together to create a pictogram on a large sheet of paper to show their group's findings.
Explain how you know which choice is the least popular.
Facilitation TipProvide pre-cut squares of paper for pupils to draw on to ensure the symbols are a uniform size.
What to look forProvide pupils with a worksheet containing a pictogram and 3-4 questions. Questions should ask them to identify the total in a category, find the most/least popular, and compare two categories.
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Activity 03
Pictogram Puzzles
In pairs, pupils are given a pre-made pictogram and a set of questions. They must work together to find the answers, discussing how they know which is the most popular, least popular, and how many more one category has than another.
Compare two categories in the pictogram and say which has more.
Facilitation TipLaminate the pictograms and questions so they can be reused with different partners.
What to look forAfter a lesson, ask pupils to do a 'fist of five'. They show five fingers if they feel very confident reading pictograms, and fewer fingers down to one if they still need help.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Begin by modelling with a large, clear pictogram on the interactive whiteboard. Use a 'think-aloud' strategy to show how you read the title and categories before counting the symbols. Ask direct questions like 'How many chose cats?' before moving to comparative questions like 'Which is more popular, cats or dogs?'. Encourage pupils to work in pairs first to build confidence before they try interpreting a pictogram independently.
By the end of this, your pupils will be able to look at a pictogram and tell you a story about the information it holds, like what's most popular and what's least popular.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
A pupil thinks the tallest column is always the 'most' without counting, which can be misleading if pictures are drawn unevenly.
Explain that while the tallest column is often the most popular, we must always count the pictures to be sure. Emphasise that when we make our own pictograms, each picture should be the same size and spaced out evenly.
Confusing the terms 'most' and 'least'.
Explicitly teach the vocabulary. Link 'most' to the biggest number and the tallest column, and 'least' to the smallest number and the shortest column. Use physical gestures, like stretching arms wide for 'most' and pinching fingers together for 'least'.
When asked 'how many more', a pupil gives the total of the larger category instead of the difference.
Use concrete materials to model this. For example, make two towers of cubes that match the pictogram columns and physically show how to find the 'difference' by lining them up and counting the extra cubes.
Methods used in this brief