Combine 10s and 1s

Before handing out the worksheet, briefly introduce the concept with a short oral warm-up or a visual model on the board. Encourage students to talk through their thinking as they work: "What strategy are you using? How do you know that is right?" After completing the worksheet, review any missed problems together and discuss the reasoning rather than just the answer. For extra support, let students use manipulatives or draw pictures alongside the written problems. These combine 10s and 1s worksheets work well as daily practice, homework, or a focused review activity.

These combine 10s and 1s worksheets for 1st grade give students the structured, hands-on practice they need to build confidence and fluency. Students work through a range of problem formats, from visual models and diagrams to written equations and word problems, so they encounter combine 10s and 1s from every angle. Each worksheet is designed to build on prior knowledge while introducing the level of challenge appropriate for 1st grade. Practicing combine 10s and 1s at this stage strengthens the mathematical foundations that support more advanced concepts in later grades.

"Combine 10s and 1s" is written for 1st Grade (Ages 6-7), and it covers Common Core 1.NBT.B.2. If your little one is a year younger but already steady on place value, the page still works. You may just need to read the instructions out loud. And if they are older and combine 10s and 1s never quite stuck, this is a short review rather than busywork.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade place value, 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 combine 10s and 1s. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Composing means building a number from its parts (3 tens + 5 ones = 35), while decomposing means breaking it down - both skills are needed for fluent computation.

When students write '2 tens + 6 ones = 26,' they are expressing the number in expanded form, a key representation in 1st grade standards.

Yes - having students use base-ten rods and cubes to build the given number before writing it provides a concrete anchor for the abstract notation.

First graders should understand that a two-digit number is composed of tens and ones (CCSS 1.NBT.B.2). For example, 43 means 4 tens and 3 ones. They should use this understanding to compare two-digit numbers and add within 100.

Use base-ten blocks: ten units snapped together make one ten-rod. Have students build numbers physically, then draw them, then write the expanded form. Worksheets with base-ten block pictures that students count and convert to numbers bridge the concrete-to-abstract gap.

Base-ten blocks are manipulatives where a small cube represents 1, a rod represents 10, and a flat represents 100. They make place value tangible. Students can physically trade 10 ones for 1 ten, which builds understanding of regrouping for addition and subtraction.