If someone were to ask me, “What are the most important math facts students need to know?” I would have to say math facts of 10. These are the math facts that equal 10. Today I’m showing why math facts of 10 are so important for students to know, plus some math facts that equal 10 activities you can do with your elementary aged students to help them learn all the ways to make ten.

 

Math Facts of 10

 

Knowing all the ways to make ten, like 7+3 and 4+6 are so important for students. First off, students can use those memorized math facts of 10 to solve harder math facts.

For example, if a student didn’t know the answer to 8+5, they could break apart 5 into 2 and 3 because they know 8+2 equals 10 and 3 more is 13. So the answer is 13.

This also works with subtraction facts. If the equation is 12-4, students can break the 4 into 2 and 2. 12 minus 2 is 10. Then they can easily know that 10-2=8 because they know 2 and 8 make ten.

I have my students practice both the make ten strategy for addition and for subtraction. I do this by having them do a scoot activity around the classroom. I lay out problems around the classroom and then give students a recording sheet with ten frames. They use the ten frames to make a ten and solve the problems. I will also give worksheets as independent practice and as centers activities. Learn more about the make ten strategy in this blog post here: How to Teach the Make Ten Strategy

Find these make ten resources for addition here and for subtraction here.

 

I like to make practicing these make ten strategies fun for students. That is why I have my students play math facts memory match. One part has the equation and the other has it on a matching ten frame. My students love to play this game as a center activity or as a fast finisher. Find it here.

 

Not only does knowing math facts of 10 help students find the answer to harder math facts, but it actually helps them solve 2-digit and 3-digit subtraction.

 

Let’s look at 2-digit subtraction as an example. One mental math strategy that I teach is the break apart strategy. Students break apart the second number in the equation into tens and ones. They can subtract the tens easily, but sometimes they need to regroup the ones. I teach students to break apart the ones into easier numbers to subtract and it gets them to the nearest tens number.

 

Like in the example below, it gets them to 60. But they still need to subtract 3 more. If students know their math facts of 10, they know that 3 and 7 make ten. So 10-3=7, so 60-3=57.

I have noticed that students really struggle with this subtraction strategy if they don’t have memorized all the ways to make ten. That is why having students know all the math facts that equal 10 is so important. But how do we help students memorize all the ways to make 10?

 

Math Facts That Equal 10 Activities

 

It’s nice that the number ten is naturally in our lives. We have ten fingers and we have ten toes. Students have worked with ten a lot in their lives. So it’s easy to add that into activities that help students learn their math facts of 10.

 

For this activity, I give students a thin strip of construction paper. They place it over any of their fingers, spitting their fingers into two groups. Then they record their answer on the piece of paper. I challenge students to find all the ways to make 10.

Another fun way to help students discover all the equations that equal ten is to have them make paper chains. Have students work in small groups. Give them strips of construction paper of 2 different colors. Students work together to make paper chains of all the ways to make 10. For example, they may come up with a paper chain that has 2 red links and 8 blue links. It’s fun to display these in your classroom so that students can reference them when needed.

 

You can even make things similar by giving students a blank piece of paper and have them draw 10 circles. Then they draw a line to make two different groups. Then they record their answers. They repeat this trying to get all the ways to make ten.

 

I like to set out fun fast finisher activities for my students to do. One helps them learn all the math facts that equal 10. I have a puzzle where stars have numbers on them, such as 10. Then there are pieces that fit around the stars of different equations. They have to fit all the equations that make ten around the 10 star. They have to fit all the equations that equal 9 around the 9 star, and so on. Find the puzzles here.

As students get to know and memorize all the math facts of 10, it will help them use reasoning to figure out harder math facts and will help them find more success with 2-digit and 3-digit addition and subtraction strategies.

 

Did you know I have a free resource sharing all of my tips to getting students to math fact fluency? It’s perfect for 1st and 2nd grade teachers.

Download your free copy here: The 7 Steps to Ensure Math Fact Fluency