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  3. 1st Grade

Addition Strategy (Making 10)

Learning about addition strategies for making 10 is a first grade, Common Core math skill: 1.OA.6. Below we show two videos that demonstrate this standard. Then, we provide a breakdown of the specific steps in the videos to help you teach your class.

Prior Learnings

Your students should be familiar with the Kindergarten skill of understanding the number pairs that equal 10 and knowing all decompositions (e.g. 5=4+1, 5=2+3) of numbers below 10. This skill builds a foundation for strategy development, the understanding of place values, and properties of operations (K.OA.3-4). Your students should also understand that ten 1’s plus more 1’s are considered “teens” (K.NBT.1).

Future Learnings

Understanding how to perform addition and subtraction within 20 will enable your students to perform similar skills up to 100, eventually extending those skills to work with larger numbers and solve two-step word problems (2.OA.1). They will also be able to apply this skill with problems in a variety of contexts involving length, picture graphs and bar graphs (2.NBT.5).

Common Core Standard: 1.OA.6 - Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10

Students who understand this principle can:

  1. Accurately and efficiently add within 10.
  2. Accurately and efficiently subtract within 10. 
  3. Find hard to recall sums and differences using strategies: counting on, making ten, and doubles. 
  4. Demonstrate or explain their thinking. 

‍2 Videos to Help You Teach Common Core Standard: 1.OA.6

Below we provide and breakdown two videos to help you teach your students this standard.

‍Video 1: Making 10 with Miss D. Gunn

Miss D. Gunn demonstrates the “Making 10” strategy through a single problem. This video is used as a resource for parents and teachers, rather than a video to show students in class. She provides a list of materials you can give your students so they can practice this method and/or follow along with the video. 

List of materials (optional):

  1. Paper and Sheet Protector
    a. Used as a dry erase board.
  2. Dry Erase Markers (different colors)
  3. Flash Cards
    a. Addition cards with at least one add-in higher than 5 and less than 9.

 The addition problem she uses to demonstrate the “Making 10” strategy is 8 + 5 = ?.

  1. Your students can draw circles matching each number in groups of five. 
    a. Eight circles under the 8 and five circles under the 5.
  2. Then, identify how many circles are needed to make 10.
  3. “Steal” the circles from the other add-in and draw a circle around them. 
  4. Write 10 underneath to start the new 10 addition equation.
    10 + __ = ?
  5. Count how many circles are remaining and write that number next to 10.
    a. 10 + 3 = ?
  6. The new answer is the same as the original equation. 
    a. 10 + 3 = 13 is the same as 8 + 5 = 13.

 This practice exercise can help your students understand the “Making 10” strategy.

 Video 2: Understanding the “Making 10” Strategy

 The video begins by explaining that when adding larger numbers, the more difficult the tasks becomes; however, there are strategies one can use to make it easier. The “Making 10” strategy is one method that makes adding larger numbers easier.

 The “Making 10” strategy is when you try to turn one of the numbers in an addition problem into 10. The first example demonstrates this strategy. 

  1. The problem is 9 + 5.
  2. Add a value to 9 to make it 10. 
  3. 9 + 1 equals 10.
  4. The 1 comes from the 5; so, 5 - 1 = 4.
  5. So, 9 + 5 = 9 + 1 + 4.
  6. 9 + 5 = 10 + 4.
    a. When adding one-digit values to 10, replace the 0 with the value.
  7. 9 + 5 = 14.

 The video then offers additional problems for your students to practice turning one of the numbers into 10. Those problems are 7 + 5 and 8 + 6.

  1. 7 + 5 = ?
    a. Take 3 from 5 to make 7 a 10. 
    b. 7 + 3 + 2 = 10 + 2 = 12
    c. So, 7 + 5 = 12
  2. 8 + 6 = ?
    a. Take 2 from 6 to make 8 a 10. 
    b. 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14
    c. So, 8 + 6 = 14

 Want more practice?

 Give your students additional standards-aligned practice with Boddle Learning. Boddle includes questions related to Comparing and Measuring Lengths plus rewarding coins and games for your students to keep them engaged. Click here to sign up for Boddle Learning and create your first assignment today.

 *Information on standards is gathered from The New Mexico Public Education Department's New Mexico Instructional Scope for Mathematics and the Common Core website.

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