Can we take a second to talk about skills that we were under an assumption would be easy for students to grasp but in reality it’s just a smidge more challenging than we thought it would be? Every year I would say “I’m going to stop assuming.” And guess what happens? I keep assuming. Did any skills come to mind as you read the first sentence? The one that came to mine…. drum roll…. is 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, 1 less.
It seems like this skill could be labeled as “easy” but something about it isn’t quite as easy as it seems. Don’t get me wrong, with all of the right steps students can most definitely master the skill. I think it’s because the end expectation is mentally finding 10 more, 10 less but that’s what scaffolding is for, right? Let’s talk about ideas and activities that I use to prepare students for mastering mentally finding 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, 1 less.
Create anchor charts that show students patterns. For example, when adding or taking away tens only the tens place changes and the ones place stays the same. Do the same with the ones place. When adding or taking away one, only the ones place changes and the tens place stays the same.
The hundreds chart will be your best friend during this skill. No matter if you’re working on 10 more 10 less, or 1 more 1 less, the hundreds chart is the most versatile tool to use. The only challenge here is students knowing which direction to go to find each one. Sometimes students have to physically count ten more or ten less from the given number to start recognizing the pattern. Once students recognize the pattern on the hundreds chart, they begin to see which way they move on the chart to find the answer.
Once students master how to manipulate the hundreds chart, start giving them pieces or “snippets” of the hundreds chart. These pieces have a number in the middle and are surrounded by 4 blank boxes on all sides (one above, one below, the left, and the right). This is great practice to teach the placement of the numbers in relation to the number given. It provides you with a true picture if students have mastered the patterns depending on where they place the numbers. Use these for practice or even exit tickets!
If the hundreds chart is a bit too abstract, use place value blocks to give students a visual aid of the actual quantity. Students can practice putting down one ten rod or taking away a ten rod to determine their answers for 10 more 10 less. If students struggle with this, they can count out ten individual ones blocks and then move into ten rods. You can do the same with ones blocks or unifix cubes for 1 more 1 less.
The activity below is one of my favorite ones to do with this skill. Mystery pictures are a great way to peak students curiosity and engagement. We all know, when you have engagement, you have more learning. Students typically love a mystery picture because they are curious to figure out the final result. Sometimes it even turns into a silent competition on who can figure out the picture first.
Using these ideas will hopefully put students on the track to mentally mastering 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, 1 less. Whoops, here I go assuming again!
You can check out all of these activities plus more in my Adding and Subtracting 1 & 10 packet below. This packet aligns to CCSS standards 1.NBT.C.5 and 1.NBT.C.6
For more of my first grade math resources, you can find my growing math bundles in my TPT or Magicore Shop!
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