Grade 1 · Session 03

Place Value Tens And Ones Numbers To 100

Part of the Math for Young Minds curriculum — designed for neurodivergent students, grounded in real-world examples.

📄 This page has 4 sections — jump to one:

📋 Session plan (for teachers)

Session 3 — Place value: tens and ones

Grade 1 · Math for Young Minds Total time: ~19 minutes Common Core: 1.NBT.B.2 Today's idea: A 2-digit number is made of tens and ones. The left digit is tens. The right digit is ones.

What students will be able to do

By the end of this session, the student can:

Show a 2-digit number as a group of tens and a group of ones.
Write the number when shown a tens + ones picture (3 tens + 5 ones = 35).
Read 2-digit numbers correctly.

Materials

10–20 snap cubes per student (or pair)
A place-value mat with tens and ones columns
Worksheet (one per student)
Pencil

Substitution: No cubes? Use bundles of 10 sticks tied with a rubber band, or a dime (1 ten) and pennies (ones). Anything that lets kids see a group of 10 as one bundle works.

New words

Word	Meaning we use in class
tens	The digit that tells how many groups of 10 there are.
ones	The digit that tells how many single units there are.

That's the entire vocabulary for today. No other terms.

Heads-up — common confusions

"Twenty-three" written as 203. The child hears "twenty" and writes 20, then tacks on 3. Slow them down. "23 has 2 tens and 3 ones. Just two digits."
Mixing up 13 and 30. Thirteen is 1 ten and 3 ones. Thirty is 3 tens and 0 ones. Say them slowly, side by side.
Forgetting which side is which. Tens on the left, ones on the right. Point at the mat every time.

Plan

1 · Hello & today's idea — 2 min

Hold up one stack of 10 snap cubes. Then hold up 3 single cubes.

"This stack is one ten. These three are ones. Together, that's thirteen — 1 ten and 3 ones."

Write 13 on the board. Point at the 1. "Tens." Point at the 3. "Ones."

"Today, every number we say will have tens and ones."

2 · Hands-on explore — 6 min

Give each student cubes and a place-value mat.

"Build me 34. Snap 10 cubes together. Make another ten. Make another ten. That's 3 tens. Then put 4 single cubes on the ones side."

Walk around. Watch for:

Tens stacks on the left, ones on the right.
Counting bundles as "10, 20, 30" — not "1, 2, 3."
Tens that actually have 10 cubes (not 9, not 11).

When most students have 34 built:

"How many tens?" (3) "How many ones?" (4) "So the number is…" (34)

If a student writes 304, kneel down. "Just two digits. 3 tens, 4 ones. 34."

3 · Connect to the math — 3 min

At the board, draw two columns: tens | ones.

Write 3 under tens, 4 under ones.

"Three tens. Four ones. That's thirty-four. The left digit tells tens. The right digit tells ones."

Now write 43.

"Same digits! But now it's 4 tens and 3 ones. Forty-three. Position matters."

Point to the mat. "Tens on the left. Ones on the right. Always."

4 · Practice with support — 6 min

Pass out the worksheet. Do problem 1 together. Then let students try the rest.

Problem 1 (together): Show 34 with bundles. How many tens? How many ones? → 3 tens and 4 ones.

Problem 2 (solo): How many ones are in 7 tens? → 70. (Each ten is 10 ones. 7 tens is 70 ones.)

Problem 3 (solo): Write the number that has 5 tens and 2 ones. → 52.

Problem 4 (stretch): What's the biggest 2-digit number you can make? The smallest? → Biggest: 99 (9 tens, 9 ones). Smallest: 10 (1 ten, 0 ones).

If a child is stuck, hand them cubes. Build it together.

5 · What we did + Try at home — 2 min

"Today you learned that a 2-digit number is made of tens and ones. Left digit, tens. Right digit, ones."

Write 52 on the board. "How many tens?" (5) "How many ones?" (2)

"Tonight, find a 2-digit number around your house. A house number on a door. A page number in a book. The minutes on a clock. Say its tens and its ones out loud."

Observation rubric — what to notice in this session

Use this during the session, not as a test. One observation per student is plenty.

Where the student is	What you'd see
Developing	Mixes up the columns, or writes 23 as "203". May need to count each cube in a ten. Needs the mat and your finger.
Using	Builds a 2-digit number with the right number of tens and ones. Reads it correctly. Writes the digits in the right spots.
Extending	Sees a number like 47 and instantly says "4 tens, 7 ones" without cubes. Can talk about the biggest or smallest 2-digit number.

No fail state. "Developing" today is "using" next week.

What's next (Session 4)

In Session 4 — Adding within 20, we use ten-frames to add bigger sums (like 8 + 5) by making 10 first. Today's idea — that 10 is a special group — comes back strong.

✏️ Worksheet (for students)

Math for Young Minds · Grade 1

3 · Place value — tens and ones

[ Hello ]  →  [ Explore ]  →  [ Connect ]  →  [ Practice ← we are here ]  →  [ Try at home ]

My name: _____________________________

Today

A 2-digit number has tens on the left and ones on the right.

We did this together

24 = 2 tens and 4 ones

   ┃┃     │ │ │ │
   ┃┃     │ │ │ │
   ┃┃     
   ┃┃     
  tens     ones

┌─────────┬─────────┐
│  tens   │  ones   │
├─────────┼─────────┤
│    2    │    4    │
└─────────┴─────────┘

Problem 1 — together

Show 34 with bundles.

   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        │ │ │ │
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
     tens               ones

➤ How many tens? _______ How many ones? _______

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                         │
│                                                         │
│   tens │ ones                                           │
│  ──────┼──────                                          │
│        │                                                │
│        │                                                │
│                                                         │
│                                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Problem 2 — on your own

How many ones are in 7 tens?

   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃

➤ Circle the number:

┌──────┐  ┌──────┐  ┌──────┐  ┌──────┐  ┌──────┐
│  17  │  │  70  │  │   7  │  │  77  │  │  10  │
└──────┘  └──────┘  └──────┘  └──────┘  └──────┘

Problem 3 — on your own

Write the number that has 5 tens and 2 ones.

   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        │ │
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
   ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃  ┃┃        
     tens                       ones

➤ The number is:

┌─────────┬─────────┐
│  tens   │  ones   │
├─────────┼─────────┤
│         │         │
│         │         │
└─────────┴─────────┘

Problem 4 — stretch

What's the biggest 2-digit number you can make?

➤ ____ ____ (____ tens and ____ ones)

What's the smallest 2-digit number you can make?

➤ ____ ____ (____ tens and ____ ones)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                         │
│   biggest:     tens │ ones                              │
│              ──────┼──────                              │
│                    │                                    │
│                                                         │
│   smallest:    tens │ ones                              │
│              ──────┼──────                              │
│                    │                                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Today's words

word	what it means
tens	the digit that tells how many groups of 10 there are
ones	the digit that tells how many single units there are

🏠 Try at home tonight

Find a 2-digit number around your house. Say its tens and ones.

The house number on the door
The page number of a book
Your age plus one (if it's 2-digit)
The minutes on a clock
The temperature outside

Tens on the left. Ones on the right.

🏠 Family guide (for parents)

Math for Young Minds · Grade 1 · Session 3

Tonight: find a 2-digit number around the house

What your child did today

In class today, we worked on place value — the idea that where a digit sits inside a number changes what it means.

We used bundles of 10 (snap cubes, grouped in tens) to build numbers up to 100. We practiced reading numbers like 34 as "3 tens and 4 ones."

The big idea: the digit on the left tells you how many tens. The digit on the right tells you how many ones.

So 52 isn't just "5 and 2." It's 5 tens (that's 50) and 2 ones — fifty-two.

Why this matters

This is the moment numbers stop being a list to recite and start being built out of parts.

Once your child sees that 34 is really 30 + 4, a whole lot of math gets easier later: adding bigger numbers, subtracting, even money. It's the difference between memorizing "thirty-four" and understanding what thirty-four is made of.

We're not in a rush. Understanding comes before speed.

🏠 Try this tonight (1 minute)

Find any 2-digit number around your house. Read it together, and say its tens and ones.

Easy places to look
The house number on your door
A page number in any book
The temperature outside
The minutes on a clock
The number of crayons in a box

The script:

"I see a number. It's 47. How many tens? How many ones?"

Answer together: "4 tens and 7 ones. That's forty-seven."

That's it. One number, one minute, done.

Words your child is learning

tens — the digit that tells how many groups of 10 there are
ones — the digit that tells how many single units there are

That's the whole list for today.

If your child says…

"This is easy — I already know my numbers."

Wonderful. Try a tricky pair: ask them the difference between 13 and 30. Both have a "3" and a "1" or a "0" — but the position changes everything. If they can explain that, they really get it.

"Wait — is twenty-three written 203?"

This is one of the most common mix-ups, and it's a sign their brain is working hard. Grab 2 small groups of 10 things and 3 extras. Show them: 2 tens and 3 ones is 23, not 203. The position does the work — no extra zero needed.

"I don't want to."

That's okay. Try again tomorrow with a number they care about — their age plus one, the page they're on in a story, the channel number on the TV. Math at this age should feel like noticing, not working.

What's next

In our next session, we'll start adding within 20. We'll use ten-frames to add bigger sums like 8 + 5 by "making 10" first. Today's tens-and-ones thinking is exactly what makes that click.

Thanks for taking a minute tonight. These small moments are where math lives.

— Math for Young Minds

🔑 Cheat sheet (visual)

🔟 Tens and Ones

The big idea

   📦📦📦📦📦📦📦📦📦📦   =   1 bundle of 10
   |||||||||||

   🟦  =  1 one

A 2-digit number = some tens + some ones.

Look at 34

   TENS  |  ONES
   ------+------
   📦📦📦 | 🟦🟦🟦🟦
         |
    3    |    4

   3 tens  +  4 ones  =  34

How to read the number

        3   4
        ↑   ↑
      tens  ones
     (left) (right)

   "thirty-four"   →   3 0 + 4   →   34

Build 52

   TENS  |  ONES
   ------+------
  📦📦📦 |
  📦📦   | 🟦🟦
         |
    5    |    2

   5 tens  +  2 ones  =  52

7 tens = ?

   📦 📦 📦 📦 📦 📦 📦
   10 20 30 40 50 60 70

   7 tens  =  70 ones

Biggest and smallest

   BIGGEST           SMALLEST
   📦📦📦📦📦         📦
   📦📦📦📦           🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦
   🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦         (no — too many ones!)
   🟦🟦🟦🟦

   9 tens + 9 ones    1 ten + 0 ones
        99                 10

The Big Rules

✅ Tens on the left. ✅ Ones on the right. ✅ 10 ones make 1 ten.

❌ "twenty-three" is NOT 203. ❌ 13 (thirteen) is NOT 30 (thirty).

   23  =  📦📦 🟦🟦🟦   (2 tens, 3 ones)
   13  =  📦  🟦🟦🟦    (1 ten,  3 ones)
   30  =  📦📦📦         (3 tens, 0 ones)

🌟 Try in your head

   📦📦📦📦📦📦  🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦

   ___ tens  +  ___ ones  =  ___

. . .

   6 tens + 8 ones = 68

🏠 Find one at home

   🚪 27    📖 p.45    🕐 8:15    🌡️ 72°

Pick a number. Say its tens and ones.

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