1st Grade · Math · 1.NBT.B.2, CCSS.MATH.7.A.1, CCSS.MATH.4.B.4
Ten Frames Lesson Plan for 1st Grade
A ready-to-teach ten frames lesson for 1st Grade. Everything below is classroom-tested structure: an objective, a 45-minute sequence, a way to check who got it, and 6 printable practice pages.
Approximately 45 minutes
Learning objective
- Use a ten frame to represent numbers up to 20
- Count filled and empty cells in a ten frame accurately
- Build numbers by placing counters in a ten frame
Materials
- Addition with ten frames (sums within 10) - Robot
- Addition with ten frames (sums within 10) - Play time
- 1st Grade Ten Frames: Ten frames Practice Worksheet
- Addition with ten frames (sums within 10) - Toy box
- 1st Grade Ten Frames: Ten frames Worksheet
- Addition with ten frames (sums within 20) - Teddy
- Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples
Lesson steps
1. Warm up together (5 min)
Open with a quick count-around or number talk that touches ten frames. Ask students where they have seen ten frames outside of math class. You are listening for who already has the vocabulary and who does not, so keep it light and let several students answer.
2. Model it (I do) (10 min)
Work two examples of ten frames on the board, thinking out loud the whole way. Say the quiet parts: what you notice first, which step you do next, and why. Deliberately make one small error on the second example and let the class catch it.
3. Practice together (we do) (10 min)
Work three more problems as a class. Ask a different student to supply each step rather than the whole answer. If a step stalls, drop back to concrete objects or a drawing before moving on.
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "Addition with ten frames (sums within 10) - Robot". Students work independently while you circulate. Note who is fluent, who is counting on fingers, and who has not started, because that grouping drives tomorrow's small group.
5. Close the loop (5 min)
Pull the class back. Ask one student to explain a problem they got right and one to name something that is still confusing. End on the confusion, not the success, so students learn that naming a gap is normal.
Check for understanding
Collect the practice pages and sort them into three piles: fluent, developing, and not yet. Any student in the third pile needs ten frames retaught in a small group before the class moves on.
Differentiation
Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild ten frames with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.
Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own ten frames problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand ten frames.
Skills covered in this lesson
Ten frames
