How to Teach Tally Marks

1. Place a group of 3 objects in front of the child. Ask the child how many objects are in the group. Have the child count them if necessary.

2. Tell the child, "I can show this number by making a mark for each object."

3. Let the child watch you as you draw a mark for each object, counting as you make the tally marks, "One, Two, Three."

4. When you are finished making the tally marks, tell the child, "this is a tally mark," as you point to one of the marks. Explain that there is one tally mark to represent each object.

5. Repeat the steps above with a group of 4 objects.

6. Set out a third group of 2 objects, this time have the child count the objects and draw a tally mark for each object.

7. When the child has a good grasp of the activity, tell the child that you are going to draw a tally mark for each of their 5 fingers. Show the child that the 5th tally mark is usually slanted across the other 4. Allow the child to practice drawing sets of 5 tally marks themselves. The worksheets below will help reinforce this skill.

Next, practice, practice, practice! Let the child get plenty of practice counting objects and making the correct number of tally marks to represent the number of objects in the group with these free online worksheets. They help reinforce the concept so the child remembers what they've learned.
Tally Marks Practice

Enchanted Learning
There's also a wide variety of free worksheets to practice writing and counting tally marks at Enchanted Learning.com.
Tally Worksheets

Education.com

A first grade level worksheet where kids keep track of animals on the farm with tally marks.
Tally Marks on the Farm

1. If the child can count by 5s, expand on the lesson by showing them that you can quickly count groups of tally marks by counting by 5s.

2. Also, you can use data collected on a tally sheet to create bar graphs. Have the child practice translating data back and forth between a graph and tally chart to further reinforce the method in which data is recorded on each.