Shearing Shed Tally

Snip, snip, buzz! The shearing shed was busy.

"Little Thunder, you can keep the tally," said Suzy. She handed him a chalkboard.

"What's a tally?" he asked.

"Every time a sheep is shorn, you draw one line," said Spike. "When you get to five, draw a line across the four."

The first sheep was shorn. Little Thunder drew one line. Then two, three, four.

"Number five!" said Suzy.

Little Thunder drew a line across. "Now it looks like a little gate!"

"That's a group of five," said Spike. "It makes counting easy."

By lunchtime, there were three little gates on the board.

"Five, ten, fifteen!" counted Little Thunder. "Fifteen sheep!"

On the other stand, the board had two gates.

"Five, ten," said Suzy. "Ten sheep."

"So the first stand shore five more," said Spike.

The fluffy wool piled high in soft white bundles.

Little Thunder looked at the woolly heap. "Counting by fives is fast, just like the shearers!"