From counting to data
Graphs start with counting, then turn the counts into something you can compare at a glance. These sheets do both on one page, then ask questions that need the graph to answer.
Talk about the graph
Ask which bar is tallest and how they can tell without counting, and what a new picture would do to the graph.
Irish curriculum links
- InfantsStage 1 Data: children explore, interpret and explain data, and the toolkit names picture graphs and block graphs as early displays.
- 1st–2nd ClassStage 2: children pose questions they care about, record data and use it as evidence to answer them.
- SortingSorting objects by one or more attributes is a Stage 1 data concept, and counting the pictures here starts with that sorting.
In the 2023 curriculum, data work starts with real questions: how did we get to school today, which fruit do we like best. Children then turn the answers into a pictogram or block graph. These sheets practise the counting and recording part.
Tally charts suit 1st and 2nd Class. As a follow-up, let the class choose their own question and collect the answers themselves, which is the heart of the Stage 2 learning outcome.
Summarised in our own words from the Primary Mathematics Curriculum (2023) and the NCCA Mathematics Toolkit.
