Tally Marks Freebie - Fun in the Sun!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Do any of your kiddos struggle with tally marks? I'll bet that you've tried lots of gimmicks to get the idea across, like these great ideas...

Tally Chant anchor chart at Zeke's Zoo
Wind-up Toy Game from Marsha at A Differentiated Kindergarten 
Popsicle Stick Stories (so cute!) at First Grade Schoolbox

Or maybe you've read Tally O'Malley, by Stuart J. Murphy, or Tally Cat Keeps Track, by Trudy Harris.

Did you know that you can even find tally mark earrings on Etsy? You know how certain of your little ones are always admiring your shoes, or your shirt, or your jewelry? Well, now you can turn the compliments into a mini-lesson!  That desperate I will never be, thank you. I hope. But I guess if it could make a difference... who knows??

Maybe you'd like to try this activity before you resort to the earrings.  

With this set of sunshine cards, your students will practice subitizing with both dice dot patterns and ten frame arrays. Then they'll take the number that they named and make tally marks for it, playing to see who'll make 100 tally marks first.

Did I mention that it's a freebie? Click here or on the image and enjoy!

Please share your best ideas for teaching tally marks!