Concept 1 of 3
Tally Marks & Tables
Today's big idea
Every fifth stroke lies across the four before it, so a crossed bundle is always worth 5.
Counting in fives beats counting in ones, then the loose strokes are added on.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Your teacher asks who walks to school and twenty hands shoot up at once. Writing every name down would take all morning, and it is easy to lose count halfway. So you draw one quick stroke for every hand, and the strokes remember the count for you.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the table above. Four strokes stand up on their own, then the fifth lies right across them. That crossed group is worth 5, so your eye can jump in fives instead of crawling in ones.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Count the crossed bundles in the row of the table above.
- 2.Multiply those bundles by 5.
- 3.Add on the loose strokes that never got crossed.
- 4.Read each row's total, then compare rows or add them up.
✍️ Try it
The cricket row has two crossed bundles and four loose strokes. What total does that row hold? The football row adds up to 9, and every bundle in it is crossed properly. How many loose strokes are sitting in the football row?
Two bundles are 5 + 5 = 10, and the four loose strokes push it to 14. The football row of 9 holds one bundle, which uses up 5. That leaves 9 − 5 = 4 loose strokes beside it.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking a bundle of 5 needs five upright strokes. Draw five and then cross them, and the row quietly becomes 6, even though you only meant 5. The fifth stroke is the line across, so only four ever stand upright. A crossed group counts as 5 straight away, with no recounting.
🌟 Why this matters
Cricket scorers, a shopkeeper counting crates and a vet counting puppies all keep score this way. You never lose your place, because your finger only ever adds one stroke. Counting in fives then finishes the job far quicker than counting one at a time.
Exam tip: A crossed bundle is always 5, so read the bundles first and the loose strokes last.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“What number do these tally marks show? |||| |||| |||”
- 1
Count the bundles
Two full bundles of five = 10. ✒️
- 2
Add the leftover marks
Three single marks are left = 3.
- 3
Combine
10 + 3 = 13
- 4
Answer ✓
= 13
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Tap to add tally marks until you reach 8. Every 5th mark crosses the bundle.
TALLY MARKS · ROUND 1 OF 3
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A tally table has a Blue row of 2 crossed bundles and 1 loose stroke, and a Green row of 1 crossed bundle and 4 loose strokes. How many more votes did Blue get?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Pictographs
Each picture is worth the key, so multiply.