Learning to Tally

Ender and I spent last week learning to use tally marks. Our tools? A felt rectangle to define the space, wood numbers, and toothpicks.




The first day we used the toothpicks as our counter of the day and practiced counting out the correct number. On day 2 we practiced making groups of 5 with the toothpicks, and on day 3 we practiced crossing the 5th toothpick across the other four.


Then we were on to the fun part! On the 4th day we learned how to make numbers other than 5 with our tally marks. Ender tried each number in turn, and figured out that it was pretty easy to do after the first few.

On day 5 we added in how to write the tally marks. I wrote numbers down the side for Ender and he tallied the numbers first with toothpicks, then on paper. Right after we finished this work he asked to add tallies to his math journal. If he adds work to his math journal, I *know* he likes the work!