As primary teachers we do a lot of introducing concepts for the very first time. With this comes a big responsibility! You see, we are laying the foundations of understanding so that teachers in years to come will have a solid foundation to build on. Helping students understand addition and making 10 are just a couple of those important foundations. I’m excited to share these fun, hands-on activities for making ten with a ten frame.
The Value of a Ten Frame
A ten frame is an excellent tool for helping our students understand 10. And in our base ten number system this is a very important thing. One of main benefits of a ten frame is the ability to make a very visual representation of ten that is easy for even the youngest children to see. Add to that the ability to use manipulatives and physically build ten and you have an amazing learning tool.
Using a ten frame students can learn to count to ten, compose and decompose numbers and learn the concepts of addition and subtraction. In this post we are going to focus on making ten using addition.
Making Ten: Start With Modeling
One of the best ways to introduce a new concept is to start with modeling. This large ten frame anchor chart is a great way to get started! By having a large ten frame it is easy to model in a way that all the kids can see.
If you have never used a ten frame before, begin by counting the spaces and introducing the students to this tool. Explain to them how they will be able to use the ten frame to help them with many different math activities. You might even show them different ten frame tools you have available in your classroom.
Then it’s time to introduce our new ten frame friend. I like to call this guy Mr. Centipede and the students love when he comes out for math time! We will use Mr. Centipede’s legs to help us make ten!
Interactive Mini Lesson
To begin working on making 10 using addition I like to start in story form. My lesson might sound something like this:
Mr. Centipede has six shoes. [I fold in six legs so that the red dot is in the square.] But Mr. Centipede needs shoes for all ten feet. How many more shoes does he need? [I point and count to all the empty spaces, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4] Mr. Centipede needs four more shoes. Did you know we can write this as a math problem? We can write 6 + 4 = 10. [I write this on the board or hold up a card with this problem. Then I point to the numbers in the problem as I say something like this] Six shoes plus four shoes equals ten shoes for Mr. Centipede. Let’s try another one. What if Mr. Centipede had three shoes? Can someone come and help me give Mr. Centipede three shoes? [Have a student add 3 shoes on Mr. Centipede.] Great! Now how many more shoes does he need to have ten shoes? Let’s count together. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7. That’s right! Who can help me give Mr. Centipede seven more shoes? [Have a student come help add the remaining seven dots.] Boys and girls can you help me turn this into an addition problem? [Have students help you create 3 + 7 = 10].
This interactive anchor chart is a great way to get students interested and active in the math lesson.
Personal Ten Frames for Individual Practice
Students can also make their own Mr. Centipede! Using the templates in the Making Ten Anchor Chart and Craft Pack each student can have their own interactive ten frame. Use these to have students work on their own while you work on the anchor chart. This method allows everyone to be involved and substantially increases student engagement.
You can also use this as Guided Practice after a lesson, Independent Practice or a Quick Check to see how students are doing. However you decide to use it, I can confidently say your students will love having their own Mr. Centipede. And . . . if you space to store them in your classroom, they make a great tool to use in math centers too. Once students are familiar with Mr. Centipede and the activity you are doing they can practice on their own during center time.
Practicing Making Ten
Students need opportunities to practice making ten. Start by working as a class and calling out a starting number. Let students build that on their ten frame. Then ask “how many more to make ten?” Let the students count to get their answer. Don’t worry about the quiet time in between. Make sure to give students enough time to complete the process on their own. This is how they will build understanding.
From there you can let students work independently by drawing a number and working on their own. This a great way to see how students are doing since there is less of a chance that they will have the same number as their neighbor.
Another way for students to practice making ten is with these no prep printable practice sheets. Each sheet includes multiple practice opportunities for making ten. There are also different formats included so that you can progress as your students build understanding. This also makes it easy to differentiate for the needs of your students.
When students are done with the practice problems they can use them to decorate their very own making ten headband! I mean, what’s more fun than math you can wear!
You can find all of these Making Ten With a Ten Frame Activities in this resource.
More Making Ten with Ten Frames Practice
To give my students extra practice on this skill I also put together these Making Ten with Addition Boom Cards. My kids just love using Boom Cards. The game like feel is a great engagement factor and the don’t even realizing how much they are learning and practicing these important addition concepts.
These Boom Cards are set up in a very similar way as the activities we did together. Here students are given the first number of the addition problem. The number is also filled in on the ten frame. The students must then fill in the remaining spaces on the ten frame and count how many are needed to make ten. Students will then drag the correct number into the addition problem.
When they hit submit, they get immediate feedback to know if they were correct or they are prompted to try again. This self-correcting feature of Boom Cards make them a great independent center activity or perfect for virtual learning.
You can find both of these Making Ten Boom Card sets in the Emily Education store.
The Solid Foundation
After working on all of these activities over the course of a few days, and then continuing to practice through centers, I have seen my students develop a solid foundation and understanding of making ten using addition.
Grab these fun, hands-on activities for your classroom or pin this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can come back and grab them when you are ready for them.
