Summary
If you teach math to early childhood students, it’s essential to understand what ten frames for math are. Ten frames are tools for teaching math and they help kids develop number sense and are an effective strategy for developing conceptual understanding of concepts. There are many different ways you can use them in your classroom.
If you teach math to early childhood students, it’s essential to understand what ten frames for math are. Ten frames are tools for teaching math, and they help kids develop number sense and are an effective strategy for developing a conceptual understanding of concepts. There are many different ways you can use them in your classroom.
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I often use ten frames with my first graders to solve addition and subtraction problems. It helps them organize their counters so they can find the sum or difference to a problem. Also, It is a great strategy to use with younger students to help them understand numbers. Once you introduce the 5, 10, and double ten frames to students, it is an easy tool for them to use without a lot of assistance.
What are Ten Frames?
A ten frame is a rectangle with ten equal spaces. It has five spaces on top and five on the bottom. It is used to support the development of the important landmark numbers five and ten. You often find the ten frames positioned horizontally and filled with counters placed from left to right and top to bottom.
Ten frames are a fantastic tool used in kindergarten and first grade to help build an understanding of counting, place value, adding, subtracting, and more. You use counters or math manipulatives to represent numbers less than or equal to ten on the frame.
Check out this link to find a free Ten Frames Template. Ten Frames Free Printable.
What are Five Frames?
It has five equal spaces in a row. For children in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten who have not yet explored a ten frame, it is a good idea to begin with a five frame. The five frame focuses on the relationship to 5 as an anchor for numbers. These are often used before introducing a ten frame.
Check out this link to find a free five frame printable or digital version. Five Frames Template
What are Double Ten Frames?
A double ten-frame is two ten frames used to support the landmark numbers ten and twenty development. It is also designed to help addition strategies (such as making a ten) and place-value ideas (such as teen numbers made up of one ten frame and then some more).
Check out this link to find a double ten frame printable or digital version. Double Ten Frames Printable
Why 10 Frames?
The number 10 is the building block of our Base 10 Number System. Young learners who have a solid understanding of this number can relate that understanding to all different areas of math. For example, a child who can understand 10 as being made up of a 7 and a 3, can then start to see 100 as a 70 and a 30.
Building Number Sense with Ten Frames
Number sense refers to understanding number concepts, operations, and applications of numbers and operations. Number sense is flexible thinking and intuition about numbers.
It is the ability to be flexible with numbers and have a variety of strategies to use. In addition, students know how to use the strategy and how to adapt it to meet different situations.
Ten frames help with developing number sense. First, number sense is having a good understanding of numbers and their relationships. Number sense develops gradually as children explore numbers and have experiences with them.
Subitizing with Ten Frames
For a while, many children will count every counter on their ten-frame. Some children will remove all the counters from the ten-frame and begin from a blank frame when making a new number. Others will soon learn to adjust numbers by adding or taking off only what is required, often capitalizing on a row of five without counting.
Subitizing is being able to instantly tell you ‘how many’ something is without counting. For example, a child who can subitize can roll a dice and tell you what they rolled without counting every dot. This skill is developed over time, but practicing it through games or using ten frames is crucial and will help develop better number sense. In addition, how students are using the ten-frame provides insight into children’s current number concept development.
Why do Ten Frames Help Build Conceptual Understanding?
Ten frames are used for counting. They make counting values simpler. Ten frames can be used for composing and decomposing numbers in relation to 5 and 10. Furthermore, they help form the basis for understanding place value in the future (for example, 12 is a ten and two ones).
Ten frames help kids develop number sense. It teaches them to subitize and is a precursor to addition. In addition, they provide kids with a visual of numbers and give children experiences working with numbers.
Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA) model is an instructional approach that is effective in teaching math concepts. Students use counters and a ten frame during the concrete stage. Then, progress to drawing the counters in the frame in the representational stage. Then, finally, progress to the abstract stage, where students are writing the numbers.
Ten Frames in Math for Solving Math Facts
State standards require students to solve addition and subtraction problems using a variety of strategies, including models. Ten-frames are a model to help students efficiently gain and develop an understanding of addition and subtraction.
Subtraction with Ten Frames
Students place counters on a ten frame to represent the minuend. Then, remove the counters that are the subtrahend. Finally, the remaining counters represent the difference. Students will eventually be able to subitize (tell how many without counting).
Word Problem with Subtraction.
Addition with Ten Frames
Students place counters on the ten frames to represent the addends. The total counters are the sum of the addition problem.
Using Ten Frames with Word Problems
Ten Frames is a strategy for solving word problems.
Word Problems in Addition and Subtraction
Two-Step Word Problems (Double Ten Frames)
Ten Frames in Kindergarten
How do ten frames work in kindergarten? Ten frames can be used to represent a number, compose and decompose numbers, compare numbers, or a variety of other skills.
Additional Resources
- How to use the Powerful Part-Part-Wole Strategy to Improve Number Sense
- How to use Engaging Math Puzzles for Fun to Build Number Sense
- FREE Ten Frames Free Printable- 5, 10, and Double Ten Frames- Digital and Print Versions
Ten Frames Songs
Tens Frame Song- Mr. R’s Songs
Online Ten Frames
Number Frames by the Math Learning Center
How to Use the Ten Frames Free Printable?
This resource has 5, 10, and double ten frames that can be printed and used with students. I like to print them on cardstock and laminate them or place them into a plastic sleeve to be reused. I especially like to put them in plastic sleeves because the students can also write equations on them, which are easier to wipe off. Counters, erasers, cubes, and many other materials can be used as counters. This makes ten frames for math easy to adapt to go along with seasonal lessons.
The digital versions of the five, ten, and double-ten frames have digital red and yellow counters. Students can move the counters to solve problems or these digital frames and be used whole class. In addition, they work great on interactive whiteboards.
In addition, you can use tape on the floor to create larger versions of the frames.
Why Use Ten Frames in Math?
Creating a love for math in your children begins with building an understanding of numbers. Using ten frames develops students’ number sense. Strong number sense helps build a foundation for mathematical understanding. Focusing on number sense in the younger grades helps build the foundation necessary to compute and solve more complex problems in older grades.
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Ten frames help kids develop number sense and are an effective strategy for developing a conceptual understanding of concepts. There are many different ways you can use them in your primary classroom, from counting and representing numbers to solving addition and subtracting word problems. Once you introduce this model to students, they will be able to use it for a variety of math problems and will help them develop an understanding of many concepts. Let me know how you use the ten frames for math strategy in the comments.
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