Kindergarten Tally Mark Worksheets
Tally marks are natural extension of counting. It is a method that is often used to collect data to help us make better sense of situation or determine a solution. For every instance that we observe or collectable data point, we mark only vertical line. Once we reach four tallies, the next mark is a horizontal or diagonal line to signify the fifth data point. This was original done to save space. You will notice that it does save you some writing room when you start working with this skill. This topic will take you through making your own tally charts and interpreting charts that are already created for you. A series of worksheets and lessons that introduce students to the concept of tally marks.
Aligned Standard: K.CC.B.5
- Counting Strawberries: Step-by-Step Lesson- Count the number of strawberries that are in a row.
- Guided Worksheet - Make tally counts of the hats, roses, and flashlights.
- Guided Explanation - The diagonal line we draw to represent five is the biggest obstacle for students.
- Independent Practice Worksheet - Go ahead and count up everything you see. Tally ho!
- Matching Worksheet - Match the number of items to their correct tally marks.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Lesson Sheets
What better way to start working with tallies than counting up a bunch of piglets?
- Lesson 1 - Count the number of pigs. For each pig, make a tally mark by drawing a single, vertical line.
Practice Worksheets
The first 2 practice sheets come with extended explanations. I thought it was important to get students started off right.
- Practice 1 - Use tally marks to show how many objects there are in the boxes. Then, circle the number that shows how many objects there are.
- Practice 2 - If the count becomes greater than 4, then draw a diagonal line over the previous 4 vertical lines.
- Practice 3 - The combination that you form this way is called a "unit:" this is a group of 5 objects.
- Practice 4 - Count and use tally marks to show how many objects there are in the boxes.
- Practice 5 - Match the correct number of objects with their corresponding tally marks, given on the right.
- Practice 6 - A mix of all skills in one.
What Are Tally Marks in Math?
Tally marks are a series of symbolized lines that we use to count and keep track of our observations. They are marked in groups of five. It involves marking one vertical line for each number, stopping at the fourth number and the fifth number or line is represented by a diagonal line crossed across the previous four. You can see an example on the tally chart to your right. As you can see in the count to 10, we reach 5 and then we create our next set of vertical lines. Remember that every fifth mark has to be drawn across the previous 4 marks.
In case you are wondering, why do we use tally marks. Tally marks are an easy way to keep track of highly complex information in a systematic manner. Once the values go over 25 or 30, these can get bulky and there are other means for tracking data in those situations. When the data is complex and in large quantity, the observations are large, and it needs to be tracked, simply counting the frequencies may not be enough. So, we make use of Tally marks, also known as bass (/, |) to make complex data easy.
Tally marks play an important role in mathematics. In probability most of the problems that you will come across requires either writing or interpreting tally marks. It takes up a greater part of the probability concepts. They are an easy and quick method of keeping the track of numbers.
Teachers often need to be reminded that using tally marks is a two-part skill. Some students are strong at creating tally charts, but not the best at reading and interpreting them. Other students have those strengths reversed. Like anything it is what they spend time practicing with I would encourage all teachers to start with student writing these tally charts and once you feel they comfortable transfer the focus of your lesson to interpreting tally marks made by others. You do this through standard worksheets or have them work in partner groups.