A tally mark is a short line drawn to record one item as you count. Marks are grouped in fives: four vertical lines with a fifth line drawn across them, so a group is easy to see and count by 5s. Tally marks are used to collect data quickly, as in a tally chart of votes.
In Spanish
marca de conteo
Also called
tally, tallies, tally marks, hash marks
Grade level
K-5
KindergartenGrade 1Grade 2Grade 3CCSS 1.MD.C.4
Tally Mark in a picture
Tally marks bundle in fives, so a long count turns into quick skip counting: count the bundles by 5s, then add the singles.
Formal definition and notation
A tally is a unary (one-mark-per-item) record of a count: each observed item adds one mark, and every fifth mark crosses the previous four to form a bundle. The number represented is 5 × (bundles) + (single marks). In data work, a tally chart lists categories with their tallies, and the totals give the frequencies used for a bar graph or table.
Symbol
Read it as
Meaning
| | | |
four
four single marks
four marks crossed by a fifth
five
one bundle; always count it as 5
Key facts
Each tally mark stands for exactly one item.
The fifth mark is drawn across the first four, so each bundle shows 5 at a glance.
Leftover single marks are never more than 4; a 5th single mark always closes a bundle.
Tallying is fast for live counting, such as votes or cars passing, because you never have to erase and rewrite a number.
After tallying, write the totals as numbers to compare categories or draw a graph.
Reading a tally
Reading a tally
total = 5 × (number of bundles) + (single marks)
bundle
a group of 4 lines with a fifth line across them
single marks
leftover lines, always 0 to 4
3 bundles and 2 singles: 5 × 3 + 2 = 17.
Tally Mark examples, step by step
Example 1: Reading a tally
Warm-up
A tally shows 4 bundles and 3 single marks. What number is it?
Each bundle is 5: 4 × 5 = 20.
Add the singles: 20 + 3 = 23.
Answer: The tally shows 23.
Example 2: Making a tally
Core
How would you tally 14?
14 = 5 + 5 + 4.
Draw 2 bundles of five, then 4 single marks.
Answer: 14 is 2 bundles and 4 single marks.
Example 3: Answering questions from a tally chart
Test-style
A tally chart of favorite fruit shows apple: 2 bundles and 2 singles; banana: 1 bundle and 2 singles; grape: 1 bundle and 4 singles. How many students voted, and how many more chose apple than banana?
A bar graph shows the totals as bar lengths on a scale. A tally chart records the counting itself.
Tally Markvs.Frequency table
A frequency table lists the totals as numbers. A tally chart may include the tallies and the totals side by side.
Tally Markvs.Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a full number system (IV, IX, XL). Tally marks only stack ones in bundles of five.
Quick check: 3 questions
Question 1 of 3
What number do 3 bundles and 1 single mark show?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B.3 × 5 + 1 = 16. 31 writes the counts side by side, 13 counts each bundle as 4, and 4 counts only the groups.
Question 2 of 3
How do you tally 20?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C.20 = 4 × 5, so draw 4 bundles. 2 bundles is 10, 5 bundles is 25, and 20 single marks are correct in value but not grouped, which makes them hard to read.
Question 3 of 3
A tally chart shows red: 9, blue: 12, green: 6. How many more votes did blue get than green?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A.12 − 6 = 6. 3 compares red and blue, 18 adds blue and green, and 27 is the total.
Tally Mark: frequently asked questions
Why are tally marks grouped in fives?
Groups of five are easy to see at a glance and easy to count by 5s, which most people can do quickly. Without bundles, a row of 23 lines would have to be counted one at a time and is easy to miscount. With bundles, you count 5, 10, 15, 20 and then add 3.
How do you make a tally chart?
List the categories in the first column. As each piece of data comes in, draw one mark in its row, crossing every fifth mark over the four before it. When you finish, count each row and write the total in a third column. Then use the totals to answer questions or draw a bar graph.
What grade learns tally marks?
Tally marks usually appear in kindergarten through second grade. In the Common Core, first graders organize and represent data with up to three categories and answer how many in each category, and many programs, including Illustrative Mathematics, have students show such data with pictures, tally marks or numbers.
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