What does a worksheet look like?

Each problem is a small tally chart with three categories and counts up to 10, plus one question with a line for the answer: how many chose one category, or which had the most.

Why tally marks instead of plain numbers?

Tallies bundle counting into groups of five, an early step toward skip counting. Reading a crossed bundle as five without recounting it is the whole skill.

1st grade tally charts

1st grade tally charts worksheets

Tally chart worksheets for first grade ask your child to read a two-column chart with three categories and answer one question about it. Counts stay at 10 or below: crossed bundles of five plus loose marks.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 1.MD.C.4.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of problems you'll get

Read each display and answer every question.

Two groups of five tallies and two more show how many?
Answer: 12.

Most problems on this sheet sit beside a picture, model or diagram, so this is the worked example the sheet itself prints. The answer key on page two prints the answer under every problem.

Every print pulls a fresh set of problems at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.

What's on a 1st grade sheet

Tally charts. Read each display and answer every question. 6 problems per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key after the problems.

How to teach this

Have your child touch each crossed bundle and say five, ten before counting the loose marks one at a time. If a count comes out one too high, the diagonal stroke got counted twice. Circle a bundle together and count its five strokes slowly. For the which-had-most question, ask them to point at the longest row before answering.

Watch for: Kids count the diagonal cross as a sixth mark. The cross is the fifth stroke, so a crossed bundle is exactly 5. Kids count each bundle as one instead of five. Skip count the groups by fives first, then add the leftover marks.

Common questions about 1st grade tally charts

What does a worksheet look like?: Each problem is a small tally chart with three categories and counts up to 10, plus one question with a line for the answer: how many chose one category, or which had the most.
Why tally marks instead of plain numbers?: Tallies bundle counting into groups of five, an early step toward skip counting. Reading a crossed bundle as five without recounting it is the whole skill.

Related worksheets

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Aligned to Common Core 1.MD.C.4. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated September 2026.

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