Making 10: number partners (Grade 1)

If your child is in Grade 1, the topic "Making 10: number partners" is one of the ideas where confidence is most often won or lost. Here is what it means in plain words, a worked example you can follow together, and a few simple ways to help at home.

What Grade 1 children learn

• Know the pairs that make 10 (like 3 and 7) without counting
• Use a ten frame to see how many more are needed to make 10
• Break a number into two parts and write the number sentence

The key ideas

• Partners are two numbers that go together to make a total: 3 and 7 are partners of 10.
• A ten frame has 10 spaces, 2 rows of 5. Counters show how many we have, and empty spaces show how many more we need.
• Learn the partners of 10 by heart: 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5.
• Order does not matter: 3 + 7 and 7 + 3 both make 10.

Quick examples

• 3 + 7 = 10: 3 counters in a ten frame leave 7 empty spaces, so the partner of 3 is 7
• 10 − 4 = 6, because the partner of 4 is 6
• Ways to break 6 into two parts: 1 + 5, 2 + 4 and 3 + 3
• 8 + 2 = 10 and 2 + 8 = 10: changing the order does not change the total

A worked example

How to help at home

• Ask your child to explain the first step of the worked example in their own words before you show them anything.
• Work through the "Try it yourself" question together, and talk about why the answer makes sense.
• Spend a few minutes a day on the free Tutorizer "Adding to 10" practice. Short and regular beats long and rare.
• If a step feels shaky, go back to the key ideas above and use objects, drawings or a number line.

Try it yourself

Want a challenge?

Next steps