Bar charts, pictograms and tables – Year 4 maths lesson

Lesson 30 of 31 in the Year 4 maths course

UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department

A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 4 (ages 8–9) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.

Time: 45 minutes + 20 min homework
Year: Year 4 (ages 8–9)
You need: Paper, a pencil and this page
Marked: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.

Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Why might a chart use a scale of 5 instead of 1?”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Counting the lines instead of reading the scale. Read the number on the scale level with the top of the bar.
Counting half pictures as whole ones. Check the key and halve it.

Tip for home: Look at charts in the news or on cereal boxes and talk about what they show.

What your child will learn

We are learning to read and interpret bar charts, pictograms and tables.

Success looks like

I can read values using the scale or key.
I can compare values.
I can solve problems using the data.

Key words

scale: the numbers on the axis
key: what each picture stands for
axis: a line along the side or bottom of a chart
data: information collected

What to have ready

Paper and a pencil
This page on a computer, tablet or phone
For the hands-on part: Collect data about the family (favourite fruit, shoe size), make a table, then draw a chart.

The big ideas (for the adult)

Read the title and the axis labels first. Check the scale: each line on a bar chart may be worth 2, 5 or 10.

In a pictogram, use the key. Half a picture is worth half the key value.

To answer questions, find the values you need, then compare or add them.

The lesson, step by step

45 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter: quick recall	5 min	Marked by Classfern
Teaching input	10 min	Not assessed, self-checked
Worked examples and guided practice	9 min	Not assessed, marked by Classfern
Independent practice	15 min	Marked by Classfern
Plenary and exit ticket	6 min	Marked by Classfern, self-checked

Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.

Homework and practice at home

20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.

More practice

Year 4 statistics testMarked instantly

All Year 4 maths lessons and tests · Maths Department

Curriculum

National Curriculum for England, Year 4: “solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs”

National Curriculum for England, Year 4: “solve one-step and two-step questions [for example ‘How many more?’ and ‘How many fewer?’] using information presented in scaled bar charts and pictograms and tables”

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.