Teaching Make Ten in 1st Grade Small Groups

Make ten is a strategy for adding within 20 by decomposing one addend so the other addend can be built up to 10 first. For example, 8 + 5 becomes 8 + 2 + 3, which becomes 10 + 3 = 13. The goal isn't to teach a shortcut to memorize — it's to help students see that any number can be broken apart and recombined without changing the total, and that working from a ten makes addition easier to reason about. Students need a solid sense of the combinations that make 10 before this strategy will make sense to them. Ten frames are the primary tool for making the "how many more to reach 10" relationship visible. A common 1st grade instructional focus is connecting this strategy to fact fluency within 20, not replacing counting with a rule to recite.

Where This Skill Fits

Composing and decomposing numbers to 10 (ten frames) → Make Ten strategy for addition within 20 → Addition strategies within 20 and fact fluency within 10, then 2nd grade addition with regrouping.

Prerequisite Skills

Essential: Fluently composing and decomposing numbers to 10 (e.g., knowing 8 needs 2 more to make 10)
Essential: Comfort filling and reading a ten frame
Helpful but not required: Some experience with counting on from a given number

Common Student Thinking / Misconceptions

Student may think: "The ten frame has to be filled in a certain order, left to right, top row first, or it doesn't count."

What this may reveal: The student may be treating the ten frame as a fixed picture rather than a tool for reasoning about "how many more to make ten."

Possible teacher response: Ask the student to fill the frame in a different order and check whether the total is still 10, so the frame's meaning (a quantity, not a pattern) becomes the focus.

Student may think: After decomposing 5 into 2 + 3 to make ten, the student recounts the whole set from 1 instead of starting from the known ten.

What this may reveal: This can suggest the student hasn't yet internalized that a ten frame with all ten spots filled represents "ten" without needing to be recounted.

Possible teacher response: Cover the full ten frame and ask, "How many are here?" before asking the student to add the leftover ones, so counting-on from 10 becomes the natural move.

Student may think: "8 + 5 and 10 + 3 can't both be 13 — they're different problems."

What this may reveal: One possibility is that the student sees each equation as a separate fact to memorize rather than as two representations of the same quantity.

Possible teacher response: Build both expressions with counters side by side and ask the student to compare the total number of counters, not just the numbers written down.

Student may think: The student decomposes the wrong addend, taking too many or too few, so the "made ten" isn't actually 10.

What this may reveal: This may indicate the student hasn't yet automatized the specific partner needed to reach 10 from the starting number.

Possible teacher response: Return to ten-frame practice isolating just the "how many more to make ten" question before reintroducing the full addition problem.

Visual Models

Ten Frames — This model can help students see how many more are needed to reach 10 at a glance, which is the core reasoning make ten depends on. A limitation is that once numbers grow past 20, two ten frames become harder to read quickly, so students eventually need to move toward mental strategies.
Number Lines — A number line can help students see the "jump to 10, then jump the rest" structure of the strategy as a single continuous movement. A limitation is that it doesn't show the composing of 10 as concretely as a ten frame does, so it works best after the ten-frame model is established.

Small-Group Teaching Sequence

A short small-group lesson (roughly 15–25 minutes) might look like this: Activate Prior Knowledge (2–4 min) — quick ten-frame flash to review combinations that make 10. I Do (4–6 min) — teacher models one make-ten problem with a ten frame and counters, narrating the decomposition aloud. We Do (5–8 min) — teacher and students build 1–2 problems together, with the teacher asking guiding questions rather than giving the steps. You Do (4–8 min) — students solve 2–4 problems independently with ten frames available. Quick Check (2–3 min) — one problem to gauge whether the student can explain their reasoning, not just state an answer.

I Do Example

Problem: 8 + 5

"I'll put 8 counters on my ten frame — it's almost full, so I know I need 2 more to make 10. I have 5 to add, so I'll break the 5 into 2 and 3. I'll move 2 of those counters onto the ten frame to fill it up." (Teacher fills the frame to show 10.) "Now my ten frame shows 10, and I still have 3 counters left over. 10 + 3 = 13. So 8 + 5 = 13." (Teacher writes 8 + 5 = 8 + 2 + 3 = 10 + 3 = 13, pointing to each step's matching counters.)

We Do Example

Problem: 9 + 4

"Let's build 9 on the ten frame. How many more do we need to make 10?" (Students identify 1.) "So let's break 4 into 1 and 3 — how do we show that with our counters?" (Students move 1 counter onto the frame.) "What do you notice about the ten frame now?" (It's full — it shows 10.) "How many counters are left over that we haven't placed yet?" (3.) "How does the model show that 9 + 4 is the same as 10 + 3?" (Students explain using the counters.)

Second problem: 7 + 6. "What changed about how much we needed to make ten this time?" (Students note they needed 3, not 1.) "How do you know 7 + 6 equals 13?"

You Do Example

Students solve independently using a ten frame and counters:

6 + 7 (answer could be checked in a teacher-only key: 13)
9 + 3
8 + 6
7 + 5

Quick Check

Ask the student to solve 8 + 4 and explain their thinking aloud. If the student demonstrates understanding — decomposing the 4 into 2 + 2, showing 10 on the frame, and reasoning to 12 — move toward fact fluency practice without the frame. If the student is not yet secure — for example, counting all from 1 or unable to say how many more 8 needs to reach 10 — return to isolated ten-frame practice on combinations to 10 before layering the full addition problem back in.

If Students Are Ready

Move toward applying make ten and related strategies across a wider range of addition problems within 20 without relying on the ten frame every time — building toward true fact fluency within 10 first — and begin connecting make ten to related subtraction facts (e.g., thinking of 13 − 8 through the same 10-based relationship).

If Students Need More Support

Step back to isolated practice with a single ten frame and the specific question "how many more to make ten?" using numbers 6–9 before reintroducing a second addend. Keep totals under 15 at first, and let students physically move counters rather than draw or imagine the decomposition. A teacher prompt like "Show me 10 first — what's left over?" can help anchor the two-step structure.

Related Skills

Before: Composing and decomposing numbers to 10
Current: Make Ten strategy for addition within 20
Next: 2nd Grade Addition With Regrouping

Related Misconceptions

See The Equal Sign Means "The Answer Comes Next" — make-ten work often surfaces this misconception, since writing 8 + 5 = 8 + 2 + 3 = 10 + 3 = 13 requires students to accept that the equal sign shows equivalent quantities across several steps, not just a signal that an answer follows.

Related Visual Models

Relevant SMS Resources

Browse more 1st grade addition and fact-fluency routines in the full catalog.

Teacher FAQ

Should I teach make ten as a rule to memorize?

No — introduce it as a way of reasoning about quantities, using ten frames and counters, before expecting students to apply it mentally. Rushing to the abstract equation before the representation is established tends to produce shaky, inconsistent use of the strategy.

What if a student already "just knows" the answer without using make ten?

That's fine for facts they've already automatized. Make ten is most useful as a strategy for facts students haven't yet memorized, and as a foundation for later place-value reasoning, so it's still worth having them explain how the strategy would apply.

How many spots should the ten frame have filled before introducing make ten?

Students should be comfortable and quick with combinations that make 10 (using a single ten frame) before adding the second step of applying that to a two-addend problem.

Does make ten work for every addition fact within 20?

It's most useful when one addend is close to 10 (typically 6–9). For smaller addends, other strategies like counting on may be more efficient, so it helps to frame make ten as one tool among several rather than the only approach.

How does this connect to what students will do in 2nd grade?

The same idea of decomposing a number to compose a ten is the conceptual root of regrouping in multi-digit addition, so strong make-ten reasoning now supports that later work. Specific grade-level expectations and number ranges vary by state and curriculum.