Foundations of Mathematical Thinking · Senior Infants

Active learning ideas

Most and Least Popular

When children actively collect and organize their own data, they move from abstract ideas to concrete understanding. This topic works best when students physically mark their preferences and see the results take shape, making abstract concepts like mode and frequency visible and meaningful.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Junior Cycle - Statistics and Probability - SP.3

• 15–30 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 30 min · Whole Class

Class Survey: Favorite Fruits

Pose the question "What is your favorite fruit?" and have children raise hands or use voting cards for options like apple, banana, orange. Record tallies on a large chart as a class. Count tallies together to identify most and least popular.

Which fruit do most children in our class like best?

Facilitation Tip

During the Class Survey: Favorite Fruits activity, circulate with sticky notes so children can immediately place their choices on a growing chart, reinforcing the connection between votes and visual representation.

What to look for

Provide students with a small set of picture cards showing different fruits. Ask them to sort the cards and then tell you, 'Which fruit is the mode?' and 'Which fruit is the least frequent?'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 20 min · Pairs

Pairs Tally Challenge

Pairs survey five classmates about favorite colors, using tally charts. They compare counts to find mode and discuss "What was most popular in our group?" Pairs share one finding with the class.

How many children chose the same favourite as you?

Facilitation Tip

In the Pairs Tally Challenge, provide pre-printed tally sheets with fruit images so students focus on grouping marks rather than drawing, reducing cognitive load for accuracy.

What to look for

Give each child a slip of paper with a tally chart showing 3-4 favourite colours chosen by 10 children. Ask them to write down the colour that is the mode and the colour that is the least frequent.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 25 min · Small Groups

Small Groups: Sticker Graphs

Distribute sticky notes or stickers representing survey data on pets. Groups sort and place them on a bar graph template. Discuss which pet has the tallest bar and why it is most popular.

What did our sorting show us about the class's favourite?

Facilitation Tip

While Small Groups create Sticker Graphs, encourage students to verbally justify their grouping of stickers before counting, building reasoning skills alongside data literacy.

What to look for

After a class survey on favourite animals, ask: 'Look at our chart. What does the tallest bar tell us about our class? What does the shortest bar tell us?' Encourage them to use the terms 'most popular' and 'least popular'.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Collaborative Problem-Solving
• 15 min · Individual

Individual Data Journals

Each child draws their favorite animal and tallies pretend class votes. They circle the most common one. Share journals in a circle to compare personal predictions with class reality.

Which fruit do most children in our class like best?

What to look for

Provide students with a small set of picture cards showing different fruits. Ask them to sort the cards and then tell you, 'Which fruit is the mode?' and 'Which fruit is the least frequent?'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should prioritize hands-on data collection over pre-made charts to build ownership of the process. Avoid rushing to digital tools too early, as physical mark-making helps children internalize frequency and comparison. Research shows that repeated exposure to the same data set in different formats—tallies, graphs, and discussions—strengthens understanding of mode and least frequency.

Successful learning looks like children confidently using tally marks to record votes, identifying modes with clear reasoning, and discussing patterns in their data. They should explain their findings with terms like 'most popular' and 'least popular' while recognizing ties or equal counts.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Pairs Tally Challenge, watch for students who assume the first fruit listed or the one at the top of the page is the most popular.

  Have pairs physically group their tallies by fruit and lay them side-by-side to compare heights, then ask, 'Which group has the most marks? Show me how you know.'

• During Small Groups: Sticker Graphs, watch for students who declare a tie without counting the stickers carefully.

  Prompt them to recount each row aloud while pointing to the stickers, then ask, 'How many stickers are in this row? What about this one? Does that mean they are tied or not?'

• During Individual Data Journals, watch for students who describe the least popular fruit as 'no one chose it' even when it has a low count.

  Have them underline the least popular fruit and write, 'This fruit was chosen by _ children.' Then ask, 'Is that number zero or a small number?'

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Methods used in this brief

• Collaborative Problem-Solving