Add Within 20, Make Ten

Work the example at the top of the page together, then let your child try the first problem alone. Ask which strategy they used and why it fits the numbers. If a strategy feels slow, go back to the ten frame or number line page for that skill.

Add within 20 by making ten first, then adding what is left. Make ten means you break apart one number to fill a ten frame, then add what is left. Problems on the page include 8 + 8, 6 + 6 and 7 + 7. The directions on the page read: Fill the boxes to make ten. Then, add what is left to find the sum. The page opens with a worked example, and the answer key shows every answer.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade addition, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with addition strategies. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Your child works out how many more are needed to reach 10, drawing the missing ones. Ten is the anchor of our whole number system, so knowing the pairs that make 10 by heart, 6 and 4, 7 and 3, and the rest, pays off in every year of math that follows.

Eventually, but not by drilling first. Let them build the pairs by drawing and counting until the pattern becomes familiar. Recall that grows out of understanding sticks; recall drilled first tends to fall apart under pressure.

Making 10 is the foundation of bridging strategies in first and second grade, where 8 plus 5 becomes 8 plus 2 plus 3. A child who knows the pairs to 10 instantly finds that easy. A child who does not falls back on counting every time.

The main ones are counting on, making ten, and using doubles and near doubles. Each gives a quick way to find a sum within 20 without counting every object from one.

For 8 + 5, take 2 from the 5 to make 8 + 2 = 10, then add the 3 that are left to get 13. The make ten sheet gives boxes for each step so students can see the ten.

A near double is a fact like 6 + 7. Double the smaller number (6 + 6 = 12), then add 1 more to get 13. Knowing doubles well makes near doubles quick.

They support 1.OA.C.6, which asks students to add within 20 using strategies such as counting on, making ten, and doubles and near doubles.

By the end of first grade, students should fluently add within 10 (CCSS 1.OA.C.6) and solve addition problems within 20 using strategies like counting on, making ten, and decomposing numbers. They should also add within 100 using place value understanding (1.NBT.C.4).

Start with adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, then progress to two two-digit numbers. Use place value understanding: add the tens first, then the ones. Base-ten blocks and place value worksheets make this concrete before moving to abstract equations.

Key strategies include counting on from the larger number, making a ten (e.g., 8+5 becomes 8+2+3), using doubles (6+6=12) and near-doubles (6+7=6+6+1), and decomposing to known facts. Worksheets that practice each strategy separately help students build fluency.