The make 10 strategy is best introduced once students are fluent with the foundation facts. They will use their knowledge of those facts ( +0, +1, +2, +10, doubles, and making 10) along with their understanding of the flexibility of numbers to find sums for the remaining facts. This strategy helps students to learn the remaining addition facts within 20 and become more flexible in their thinking. Students need to be fluent in their addition fats so they can solve more complex problems. Let’s explore these facts!
Students who feel successful in math class are happier and more engaged in learning. Check out The Bonus Guide for Creating a Growth Mindset Classroom and Students Who Love Math for ideas, lessons, and mindset surveys for students to use in your classroom to cultivate a positive classroom community in mathematics. You can also sign up for other freebies from me Here at Easternshoremathteacher.com.
I am always looking for ways to support my students in learning their addition facts. Solving more complex problems, such as word problems, becomes more difficult when students are not fluent in their facts. So, I have systematically taught them their +0, +1, +2, doubles, and making 10 facts. Then, when they have a solid grasp of these facts, we begin to use the make 10 strategy. Students must be able to compose and decompose numbers to use this strategy. Breaking numbers apart and putting them back together is an important number sense skill.
What are Addition Facts?
Facts with addends of 0-10 are considered basic facts. Sometimes, 0-9 are considered basic facts.
As math teachers, we want students to become fluent in single-digit addition and subtraction facts. We call these basic math facts because they provide the foundation for more complex problems.
Students should develop both automaticity and an understanding of math facts. Automaticity is a student’s ability to recall a fact effortlessly. In addition, we want our students to understand these essential facts.
Standards That Include Addition Facts That Have a Sum of 10
Addition Facts to 5 Standard
K.OA.A.5 By the end of kindergarten, students should know addition and subtraction facts with sums to 5 from memory. They should have various experiences using concrete materials and drawings to show their understanding. Using five frames with counters helps to develop and reinforce sums to 5. Students should be able to give a sum or difference in about 3 seconds without resorting to counting to be fluent.
- Variety of materials to practice facts with sums to 5.
- Use counters, dot cards, five frames, linking cubes, and pictures.
Addition Facts With Sums of 10
K.OA.A. 4 For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a picture or equation.
- Provide situations that require students to break 10 into various combinations using models such as ten frames, cubes, and counters. FREE Ten Frames Free Printable- 5, 10, and Double Ten Frames- Digital and Print Versions
- Draw pictures to represent the number pairs that make 10.
Standards That Include Addition Facts That Have a Sum of 20
Addition Facts for 10 Standard
1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction with 10. Students should use concrete materials and ten frames to develop a conceptual understanding of strategies.
- Variety of materials to practice adding and subtracting with sums to 20
- Explain their strategy for finding the sum.
- Demonstrate fluency for facts with sums to 10
- Extend the use of strategies to facts with sums to 20. (They will be expected to be fluent in 2nd Grade)
- Use of concrete objects and ten frames. FREE Ten Frames Free Printable
Addition Facts to 20 Standard
2.OA.B.2 Fluency add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By the end of Grade 2, know all sums of two one-digit numbers from memory. Students should review and extend strategies with explicit activities connected to facts using concrete materials, number lines, and the hundred chart for addition and subtraction facts with sums to 20.
- Variety of materials to practice adding and subtracting with sums to 20.
- Explain their strategy for finding the sum.
- Demonstrate fluency for facts with sums to 20.
- Use of concrete objects, number lines, and the hundred chart.
Importance of Teaching Addition Facts With a Sum of 20
If students know their basic facts, it will be easier to solve more complex problems. As math tasks become more complex, students need a solid foundation to build upon. Committing basic math facts to memory speeds up math tasks. In addition, students who have committed basic math facts to memory can perform mental math tasks. Mastery of basic facts provides the foundation for everyday mental math tasks.
Automaticity is the quick and effortless recall of basic facts. This is the goal for our students, along with understanding the facts.
Why is it Important to Understand Basic Addition Facts?
The ability to recall facts is improved when understanding is connected to them. Memorizing nonsense is more difficult because we need to understand and make connections.
What is the Making a 10 Stategy?
The Making 10 strategy is one method that makes adding larger numbers easier. The Making a 10 strategy is when you try to turn one of the numbers in an addition problem into 10.
Using tens is easiest when one addend is either 9 or 8. In these cases, students break apart the other addend and add 1 or 2 to make ten. Adding the remaining amount to find the sum is easy because they are adding to 10, and hopefully, this has already been introduced to students.
Learning to think about numbers flexibly and manipulate them in a way that makes computation easier are essential skills.
Addition Problems That Equal 10
In order for this strategy to be successful, students need to master their addition problems that equal 10. These are the addition facts with 2 addends with a sum of 10.
There are only eleven facts in the addition facts sums of 10 because the order of the addends does not matter. We do not have to break apart 0+ 10 because 10 is already an addend. Therefore, only five addend pairs provide the framework for making 10 strategies ( 9+ 1, 8+2, 7 +3, 6+4, 5+5).
Read more about this fact set here.. What Are Some Fun Ways to Practice Addition Problems That Equal 10?
Grab these resources to help with teaching Making a 10. Here are 308 slides to practice Making a 10. There are multiple formats for addition facts of 10. Students can use the ten frame to add and find the two addends with a sum of 10.
You can also try out this freebie for Facts of 10.
Or try out this Monster Math Addition Facts That Have a Sum of 10 resource.
Using the Addition Facts That Equal 10 to Make 10
So once students understand the addition facts with a sum of 10, they can use these facts to decompose and compose numbers to make 10. For example, 9 + 8 can be changed to 10 + 7 by knowing that 9 + 1 =10, then adding 7 more to find the sum of 17 for 9 + 8.
This excellent mental math strategy helps students solve some of these more difficult basic facts.
Make a 10 Then Add Key Ideas
When exploring the making a 10 facts, students begin to realize that adding any single-digit number to 10 is simple.
Numbers can be composed and decomposed. Breaking one addend apart can make the calculation more friendly because adding to 10 is much easier.
Ideas for Teaching Making a 10 to Add
It helps to start with visual and physical examples. For example, ten frames are a perfect visual to use to develop the make a ten to add strategy with our students. As students become more comfortable with this strategy, they can move away from the visuals or manipulatives.
For the make a ten to add strategy, I model how a ten frame helps us think about our addends. First, we start with a problem adding a single-digit number to nine, like 9 + 4. Then, together, we set the two addends up on separate ten frames.
Then, we explore how we can solve 9+4. Usually, a student will come up with the idea of moving counters around if not, I will drop some hints.
They get excited when students realize they can move counters and have shifted the problem 9+4 to 10+3, which is a lot easier problem to solve.
Students develop a deeper understanding of basic facts through problem-posing, hands-on exploration, real-world examples, songs, games, and exploring situations from children’s literature.
make-a-10-to-addMaking a Ten Strategy
Songs to Teach Addition Facts
Using songs helps students remember their basic math facts.
- Let’s Learn Our Addition Facts 1 | Addition Song for Kids | Open Answer | Jack Hartmann
- Learning My Addition Facts (All Mixed Up) | Addition Facts for 10 | Jack Hartmann
Math Literature Suggestions
Incorporating math literature into your math lessons is one way to make your lesson fun and
connected to the real world. Here are some suggestions for math books to use when teaching addition.
What’s New at the Zoo? An Animal Adding Adventure- A zoo visit provides many opportunities to practice simple addition! Each spread presents a detailed zoo scene paired with a rhyme and number equation, leading the reader to solve an addition problem. When we read it to the class, we put Post-it notes over the equations and have the kids try to formulate it independently (using whiteboards), then remove the Post-its to reveal the answer.
Animals on Board by Stuart Murphy- A truck driver keeps seeing cars drive past with all sorts of animals on board and wonders where they are going. As they pass, she adds up the animals on each truck. Finally, the mystery destination is revealed…they’re part of a carousel! The story incorporates five single-digit math problems (3+2, 6+1, 9+0…), presented clearly enough for early addition lessons.
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin – This is a worm’s journal that tells the good and bad sides of being a worm. Through this story, students explore different combinations of addends that make ten.
Make 10 Strategy Word Problems
Using information related to your students or from books, create word problems that have students use the make 10 strategy.
For example, Sara has 9 soccer balls. Mike gives her 5 more. How many total soccer balls does she have now? Encourage students to use the make 10 strategy to solve this problem.
Resources for Make a Ten to Add
Making a 10 to Add
Check out this resource with 120 slides for students to making a 10 to add. These 120 slides have students model the word problem within 20 with counters and ten frames. Then, students move the counters to make a 10, and show the new addition fact. This Making a 10 to Add resource comes in 4 seasonal sets.
Make a Ten to Add Within 20
Through hands-on activities and thoughtful discussions, students develop a deeper understanding of math facts and develop valuable strategies related to these facts.
Check out The Bonus Guide for Creating a Growth Mindset Classroom and Students Who Love Math for ideas, lessons, and mindset surveys for students to use in your classroom to cultivate a growth mindset in mathematics and students who love math. You can also sign up for other freebies from me Here at Easternshoremathteacher.com.
Once students grasp their foundational math facts, introduce the make 10 strategy and see how successful they are with these additional math facts.
