1 - Getting Started ~3 mins
The caretaker tried to count the school buses by shouting one, two, three… and kept losing his place. Is there a tidier way to keep count?
2 - Watch and Notice ~8 mins
A tally mark is one quick stroke for each thing you count. Watch these tallies on the board. First, four single strokes. Then five — and the fifth stroke becomes a five-bar gate across the four. Then seven — one full five-bar gate and two more. Then ten — two full five-bar gates. For each tally, read it back as a number.
3 - Try It Together ~8 mins
We are the tally team for the caretaker: every bus gets one stroke, and every fifth stroke must lock the five-bar gate. Each time a bus is called, one pupil adds one tally on the board. We will build: 3 buses, then 5, then 8, then pause at 10 for the second five-bar gate, then one more to 11. After each stop, read the tally aloud as a number.
Count the school buses
4 - Draw the Gate in Your Copy ~2 mins
In your maths copy, draw a tally of five — four strokes and the five-bar gate laid across.
5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins
Show me your neatest five-bar gates. Ready, steady, draw! In your maths copy (or on your Tally sheet), draw these tallies one after another. After each one, say the number aloud with the class.
- Tally of 3
- Tally of 5 (with the five-bar gate)
- Tally of 7
- Tally of 9
Where does the five-bar gate stroke go — and why?
Hands-on Task
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