Using Tally Marks: "LISTEN" carefully. You "CAN" do it.

Hi All,

Keeping track of lots of things can be challenging. Tally marks are a great way to help with this. For example, you can use tally marks to keep track of how many times someone sharpens their pencil (Teachers: You know what I'm talking about!) Tallies are useful during observation, particularly in outdoor settings, for example when keeping track of birds at a bird feeder. And of course, there's voting!

One very simple, but fun activity my classes have always enjoyed, uses a can and a bunch of pennies. Give each student a pencil and a piece of paper. Review or introduce the idea of using tally marks to keep track of things. The big advantage of tally marks is they provide a written, organized record of something that might not be easily countable or even visible.

It's important to emphasize to kids how bundling a group of 5 tallies by making the 5th mark across the other 4 is key for an easy count later. Compare a solid row of 20 tally marks and 4 groups of 5 as far as how easily countable the whole group of marks is.

Now take a can and a big bunch of pennies. Tell students you are going to drop pennies into the can one at a time. They are to make a tally mark for each penny dropped and try to keep track of how many are dropped in total. To do this, go to the back of the room with all students facing forward so they cannot see what you are doing.

Begin to drop the pennies one at a time. Leave enough of a time gap between drops so kids can record a tally. When finished say, "Done," and ask students for a total. Have them show their finished tally marks to verify this total. It is amazing how quiet your class will get as those pennies drop.

Now give students turns being the penny dropper. Whisper to each "dropper" how many pennies you want dropped so you can have the class deal with a variety of numbers. For older groups you can even use nickels, dimes, or quarters. This makes for some possible multiplication at the end of the tally total. Have fun!

Best,

Bob

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