Make Ten, Use Ten

We are learning to see numbers to 20 as ten and some more, and to add by making a ten first.

Before you startAbout 40 minutes · what success looks like · notes for the helper

About 40 minutes. It's fine to stop after the Quick Check and come back another day: the lesson opens where you left it, at the Quick Check.

You'll know you've got it when

I can show a teen number as a full ten and some more
I can say the pairs of numbers that make 10
I can add numbers like 8 + 5 by making ten first

For the helperhow to sit beside this lesson, and what this step is for

This step: Spark

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

Getting ready: Two ten-frames drawn on paper (two rows of five boxes each), about 20 small things to use as counters — buttons, dried pasta or coins — and a pencil. The Card Flip choice uses playing cards from ace to 9, or number cards 1 to 9 written on scraps of paper; the backyard choice uses leaves, gum nuts or pebbles. About 40 minutes in all, which is more than one sitting for most seven-year-olds; many families stop after the check and do the choice task later or the next day.
What understanding sounds like: Listen for your child talking about the ten: 'eight needs two more to make ten, then three more is thirteen.' Saying how far it is to ten matters more than speed.
A likely mix-up, and something that helps: A likely slip is filling the ten and then adding the whole second number again — for 8 + 5, making 10 and then adding all 5 to get 15. You might ask, 'How many of the five did you already use to fill the ten?'
If it comes easily: Facts like 9 + 7 and 7 + 6 with the counters out of sight, with the make-ten steps said out loud, are a good next step for a child who finds this easy.
If it's a struggle: If it's a struggle, one way is to stay with the pairs that make ten for a while, with real counters on the frame, before moving on to adding past ten. If your child is upset or stuck, putting the counters away and coming back tomorrow is part of learning, not a step back.

Step 1 of 6 · Spark

Lesson 1 of 5 · Facts to Twenty and Their Families

Mangoes in the bowl

For the helper

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

There are 8 mangoes in the fruit bowl. Someone brings 5 more home from the shop. How many mangoes now? You could count every one from 1. One, two, three... thirteen. That works. But it's slow, and it's easy to lose count. There's a faster way. It uses a very friendly number: 10.

8 mangoes and 5 more. Is there a quicker way than counting every one?