Ten More and Ten Less: Hands on Activities for First Grade

Ten More and Ten Less

Teaching ten more and ten less is a lot of fun in first grade!  There are so many fun, hands-on activities you can do with your students to work on this place value skill. 

There are a variety of skills students need to be successful with this standard:

• Can students orally count on from a given number?
• Do students have good number sense? Can they easily compare and order numbers?
• Do they understand our base-ten number system?

If not, you may need to do some pre-teaching before they are ready to mentally find 10 more and 10 less than a given number. These activities can help you build these skills.

Hands-On Activities

Use cubes to count on. Start with a given number and touch or push cubes as students count on ten more. Once students can count on ten, then work on counting back ten. You could use a simple ten frame to do this activity- or you can make it more enticing with these fun snail mail mats!

We know that students love variety, and many students learn in different ways! Cubes and fingers are another way to practice in a hands-on concrete way.

Once students can orally count on and back ten, then work on writing the numerals. This is a great way to continue building number sense. Number lines are a great way to practice. You can use a simple number line or spice it up with math mats to make it feel like a game!

After students have mastered the skill of orally counting on ten less and ten more and can write the numerals then they are ready to dive deeper into place value understandings.  

Here are some of my favorite activities:

Use Place Value Blocks

Students build a two-digit number with place value blocks. They add another "ten" to make ten more. Then they take away a "ten" to show ten less. You can use a simple two-column place value mat, or these pails are super fun!

Use a 100 or 120 Chart

I love that "aha moment" when first graders realize they can use a 100 or 120 chart and go up and down a row to find ten more and ten less! Be sure to talk with your students about why this works and how it relates to our number system. This mat is perfect for using a math link to "circle" the numbers.

Mentally Finding 10 More and Ten Less

Now that you have spent a good amount of time building students' place value understanding, most students will be ready to mentally find ten more and ten less. This is the math standard students are expected to master in first grade.

I love that this mat connects the idea of addition and subtraction to the skill. Children place a number card in the middle and then they write the ten less and ten more numbers. Students shouldn't need to "count" our goal now is automaticity. You can download a free black and white version of this mat and number cards here.

Task cards are a great way to fluency! This set comes with three sets of cards and recording sheets for three different activities to practice ten more and ten less: Scoot, Write the Room, and a Math Station. Your students will love these games!

Your students will love using these hero number mats at a center. The starting number is written in the middle and students write the ten less and ten more numbers. This is also a great small group activity.

Kids always love to play Bingo! This is another great way to work on fluency for the skill of 10 more and 10 less. It is perfect for use in small groups, or at centers.  

Want to learn more about this set?  Click here.

Check out more of my first-grade hands-on math units:

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Six Tips for Successful First Grade Math Centers

Six Tips for First Grade Math Centers

We want students to be able to work independently at their first-grade math centers. This allows the teacher time to be able to work with small groups or individual students and meet a variety of needs within the classroom. Here are six of my best tips for successful first-grade math centers.  

#1- Math Centers should be fun

Math centers need to be fun and engaging for your students. Look for ways you can provide opportunities for students to move and interact with others during the activities. Write the Room is a favorite center activity that allows students to move around the classroom. 

Partner or small group games are also great! You will want to think through your level of comfort with students moving around the room and working with others. Take the time to train your students to work at an appropriate volume level for your classroom.

#2- Keep your centers predictable

One of the easiest ways to encourage independent work at centers is to keep the format of the activities similar from week to week. This helps students know how to use the center and reduces the number of questions your students will have. It will also cut down on the amount of time you spend explaining centers each week. You can easily change the skill you are working on while keep the activity the same. Activities like dice games, memory, and task cards work great for centers and can be used a lot of different ways.

Kids love playing memory!  This set is available as a free download in my TPT store.

# 3- Use math centers for review

Centers are the perfect place to practice and refine past learned skills. It's okay to place items in centers that seem "easy" or were taught several months ago. This increases the opportunity for students to work independently and gain fluency in their math skills. 

Avoid placing new content into math centers too quickly. Your students may have too many questions, or they may practice the skill incorrectly if the content isn't review work. You want to know your students have a strong understanding of the math concept before they are working without your guidance or support.

# 4- Students need accountability

We want centers to be fun AND we want students to stay focused on the task. Without something to turn in, some students will not be on task. One option is to include some type of recording sheet or exit ticket for students to complete with their center activity. It isn't usually necessary to grade these tasks, but it allows you to track that your students were engaged and on task. A sticker or stamp for completion of the task works great for accountability.

Recording sheets work great for student accountability!

#5- Utilize Technology

Classrooms today are full of technology and digital resources. Utilize the resources you used during remote learning and repurpose them for digital math centers. Platforms like Google, Seesaw, and Boom Cards make great first grade math centers.

Digital activity for practicing ten more and ten less from my digital place value bundle.

Students love digital activities that incorporate moveable pieces!

#6- Stay Organized

One of the most challenging aspects of math centers is keeping your supplies organized and picked up.  Develop an organizational system of containers, labels, etc. and train your students well on how you want them to clean up. Allow plenty of time for students to clean up centers correctly and put supplies away. Take the time to teach and practice clean-up procedures. Check out this blog post for ideas on staying organized.

Need some easy to use first grade math centers? Check out this bundle that works great for memory, write the room, and task cards. 

 

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Doubles Facts in Math: Addition Fluency Strategy

Doubles Facts in Math

Increasing students' fact fluency is an important goal in first grade!  For a small group of students memorizing addition and subtraction facts comes easy.  But most kids need a considerable amount of time and practice in order to become fluent with addition and subtraction facts to ten.  Today, I want to share some ideas for helping students to practice doubles facts. Doubles are a great place to start for increasing fact fluency and is also a precursor to learning the "doubles +1" strategy.  

Dice Games

Kids love using dice! If you haven't already, start collecting a wide assortment of dice: big, small, dots, numbers, different colors, dice within a dice, 6-sided, and specialty dice. Changing the dice is an easy way to add novelty to your math activities.

One simple math game for practicing doubles facts in math is Roll and Color. Students roll the dice and color the "double" of the number. They try to color five numbers in a row. Playing with a partner is a blast because they can block each other. Your class will want to play this game again and again!

Roll a Double is another simple activity for practicing doubles facts.  Students roll 2 dice or a dice within a dice (pictured) until they roll a double.  Then they record their double fact.  This game could even be played with just a piece of notebook paper for recording their doubles. This game is fast-paced and lots of fun!

Dice Tip- Foam dice that are quiet when they are rolled are amazing!  Another option is to have students roll the dice on a 9x12 felt square, which can easily be found at your local craft store.

Cubes

Unifix cubes are an excellent math tool that can be used in SO many ways!  They work great for practicing doubles facts in math. Give students a target sum (even number) and have them build a doubles cube model for that sum with two colors of cubes.  Starting with the sum is a great way to encourage some problem-solving skills for your students.

Ten Frames

Ten frames are a powerful math tool for helping kids visualize numbers!  Use doubles facts flashcards to have students build addition problems on their ten frames. 

This mat is fabulous for whole or small groups. Put the mat in a write and wipe pocket or page protector for repeated practice.  Students use dry erase markers to record the fact, then erase and start again.  

This worksheet is great for independent practice or a math center. Kids choose a ten frame. They double the number and write the addition sentence.  You can download a copy of the worksheet here.

Interactive Notebooks

An interactive notebook activity provides an opportunity for students to review their work.  They will love to revisit their notebook and practice their doubles!

Dominoes

Dominoes are another great tool for visualization! Have your students dig through sets of dominoes looking for doubles.  Then have them record the pairs of doubles facts.

 

Games!

Kids love anything that feels like a game instead of work!  Here are a couple of game ideas for you.

Memory Match:  Students find matching numerals. Then they tell the doubles fact. You could use something as simple as a deck of playing cards for this activity.

Puzzles are another game option. The best part- they are self-checking!  Consider adding in a recording sheet for accountability

Math Links:

First-graders love math links!  They are also a great way to continue to develop fine-motor skills.  Have students build doubles addition facts with the links.  Then they can attach the problem and the sum.

I hope this gave you some ideas of activities you can do in your classroom to help students learn their doubles facts in math and build their addition fluency.  If you would like to learn more about this resource, you can click the picture below.

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Math Mats for First Grade

I love the versatility of dry erase pockets! They are great for so many reasons; they are easy to prepare, easy to clean, durable, and students LOVE them!  They are great to use for checking for understanding and guided practice.  Students can hold them up like dry erase boards to quickly show you their work.

Today I wanted to share a few of the First Grade Math Mats I created to use in dry erase pockets. They are great for whole group and small group instruction.  Once the mats are introduced, they also make a great independent center!

Add some simple math manipulatives and you are ready to go!  In this activity, students use dominoes to work on the Commutative Property of addition (aka Turn-Around Facts).  Students place the domino in the first spot, write the fact, flip the domino, and write the turn-around fact.  You can walk around the room while students are working to quickly check their understanding of the activity.  When students complete the mat, they erase it, grab another domino, and keep going!  That is one of the great things about this mat, there is no "I'm finished!"  The exact same activity is perfect for centers!!!

With this mat, students record all the ways to Make Ten.  All you need are two-sided counters.  Students flip counters and record the different combinations.  

Use cubes to work on doubles.  You can orally give the students a double to build with the cubes.  Then they record the doubles fact.  At a center, students can build and record different doubles, you could provide doubles flash cards, or they can make their own doubles.

Students can put the "Fact-Family" in their house.  Give students three numbers in a family to record at the top (triangle flash cards work perfect for this!).  Then students write all four facts in the family.  When they complete one fact family, they can grab another flash card and do another!  

Or you can use dominoes for the family!  

Students can practice their place value skills with this mat.  Give students a number to build with place value blocks.  They also record the number in tens and ones. When you are ready to move from the concrete to the representational stage of understanding, students can color the number with their dry erase markers on the mats.  

Students can also compare two numbers using place value!  All you need are number cards to make a quick center.

Give students a time to record in digital form, then have them draw the hands on the clock.  Add a set of digital time cards and you have a center ready to go!

Use dice to work on adding three numbers.  Have students who are working at different levels?  Add dice with larger numbers for easy differentiation!  Another activity students can play for extended periods of time!

These are just a few of my favorites!  You can check out all of my First Grade Math Mats in my TPT store!

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Mats-Write-and-Wipe-First-Grade-2946859

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Math Bins

Hi Everyone!  Today I am sharing an idea that works for me for Math Intervention.  My district requires us to have a daily twenty minute block for intervention and/or enrichment.

The hardest part is always keeping the other students engaged in MEANINGFUL tasks while I meet with students who need extra support or enrichment.  

This past year I FINALLY found something that has worked great for me...Math Bins.  
My students loved them!  
They were always disappointed if we didn't have time for them in a day.  

First of all, I LOVE these containers!  I found them at Target.  They were a little pricey, but I am glad I decided to use them.  I love the size of the containers, they are wide enough to fit lots of activities! They stack SUPER easy and don't take up a ton of space, you can see mine fit easily on top of a shelf. Also, they are very sturdy and have easy open handles for the kids.

I placed two or three activities in each bin.  I took part of my math instructional time to introduce any new activities before students used them in the bins.  Lots of the activities would be "repeats" that we had played earlier in the year. I always included some fact games, review activities, and new activities that correlated with our current learning targets. I always made sure to include all needed materials: dry erase markers, cubes, dice, etc. That ensured no roaming around the classroom or interrupting the teacher.

Every few weeks I would change the activities in the bins.  Originally I thought I would change them every week, but it was too time consuming.  I found by including more than one activity in the bins students would stay engaged with the activities for about three weeks at a time.

I used a pocket chart to organize who went to each bin each day.  Students stayed with their "Table Groups" and had an assigned spot on the floor close to their table for Math Bins.  Each day, I rotated the numbers so students went to a new bin each day.

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Math Stations

Today I wanted to share my new lesson form I am going to use for math this year.  My math block includes 40 minutes of a whole group math lesson and 20 minutes of small group intervention and enrichment.  This year for my intervention/enrichment time I am going to try math stations.  My plan is to have five math stations.  This way students will visit one station each day and I will only have to change the stations once a week.  One of the math stations will be the computer component that goes with our district math program.  Then while students are working at their math stations I will have time to meet with students in small groups for intervention and enrichment work.

 

Click here to download

 

I am going to copy the form front to back.  On the front side of the form  I will list my daily math lessons in the long boxes and my math stations for the week in the left column.  Then on the back side of the form I will plan for my small group interventions, students for intervention, and notes on their progress.  I hope you find this form helpful!

 

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Word Work Center

This is one of my students favorite centers.

I had all of these old boxes of cards (I think 4 of them) laying around and I wasn't sure what to do with them.  I hadn't really been using them. 

So I decided to use them to create a center.  I love that this center was easy to make, self-checking, and hands on for the kids! 

Here are the supplies you need:

Simply add magnetic tape to the back of the cards and your center is ready!

Students build the words on the cookie sheets, and turn the cards over to check.

 I separate my cards into sets short vowels, short vowels with blends, silent e, vowel teams, etc.



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