Tally chart

When you want to count something on the go — say how many cars drive past the school — the easiest thing is to draw a stroke for each one.

But if there are many, the strokes are hard to read. So we have a trick: after four strokes, the fifth one goes across them.

The rule: five to a bundle

For quick counting:

| | | | → 4 strokes.

| | | | / → 5 (four upright + one across).

Five make a bundle. Five bundles = 25, four bundles = 20.

Example: favourite fruit

In class we ask: "which fruit is your favourite?"

Most popular: bananas (13).

Least popular: pears (2).

How to read

1. Look at the row.
2. Count the bundles (5 each).
3. Add the leftover strokes.

Tally: \|\|\|\|/ \|\|\|\|/ \|\| = 5 + 5 + 2 = 12.

When tally charts are useful

• When counting things as you watch (cars, birds, children).
• When you don't know in advance how many there will be.
• When you want a quick overview without a table.

Questions we answer

From a tally chart we read:

• "How many were X?" → count the strokes in the row.
• "Which had the most?" → the row with the most strokes.
• "How many more were X than Y?" → subtract.

Summary

• Stroke = 1, five strokes = a bundle (the fifth crosses the first four).
• Count in fives, then add the rest.
• Useful for counting on the go.
• We read biggest/smallest and differences from it.