Grade 1
How to Teach the Make-Ten Strategy With 10 Objects
Making ten is the bridge into every later addition fact. When a child can see that 7 needs 3 more to become 10, problems like 7 + 5 stop being a count and start being a plan: fill the ten, then add what is left.
What you need
Ten small objects that stand still: pegs, buttons, dry pasta, or coins. Draw two rows of five boxes on paper, or use the ten-frame on the printable.
The 10-minute activity
Keep it short and stop while it is still fun.
- Fill seven boxes, top row first. Ask: "How many boxes are empty?" Let them count the gaps.
- Say the fact out loud together: "Seven and three make ten."
- Clear the board and try 6, 8, and 9. The empty boxes do the talking.
- Now try 8 + 5. Fill eight boxes, then move two of the five into the empty spaces. Ten, and three left over: thirteen.
Why the objects matter
Children understand ten as a shape before they understand it as a symbol. Two rows of five let them see "how far from ten" at a glance, without counting from one. That is the step that later makes mental math fast.
Move to drawn dots once they stop needing to touch, and to written equations once the dots feel easy. There is no rush between the stages.
If they get stuck
Go back to a smaller number they already know, like 5 + 5, and build up again. A wrong answer is just information about which step needs another look.