Ten Tens Years K - 3

Summary Place value is the focus of this game. Children collect ten plugs in a ten frame and record that they have done so with another colour plug in another part of the board. Although the game can be played to make 10 tens the aim, that takes quite a long time, so any other objectives such as 3 tens is fine. Suitable for threading. Materials One calculator each One Poly Plug each One spot dice per pair If desired, one 'possy mat' such as 10cm square piece of coloured paper, per pair

Acknowledgement

This activity derived from a discussion between Jenni Koehler, Rohan Perrot (Chillwell Primary School), Henya Worland (Nelson Park Primary School) and Doug. Williams (Session Leader) at a presentation of the Maths on the Move professional development day titled Engineering 'aha' Moments in Number.

Procedure Remove two rows of plugs from the red board so the rows are side by side. This makes a Poly Plug 10 Frame. Removed plugs are stored in the plastic bag which is part of the equipment. The aim of the game is to be first to fill the frame a given number of times, ie: to make 3 tens or 5 tens or 10 tens or whatever the teacher or children decide. Player A rolls the dice... and leaves it where it lands... then places that number of yellow plugs into the gaps in any way... and writes on the calculator the number placed, in this case 5. Player B now has their turn to do the same thing.

Content 1:1 correspondence addition facts beyond 10 addition facts to 10 counting making groups of 10 place value recording - calculator visual & kinaesthetic representation of number

Player A now rolls again and adds more yellow plugs to their board. If their total is now ten or more, 10 plugs are exchanged for a blue which is placed on the other side of the board. For some children it might be necessary as a transitional step to fill the board and complete adding yellow plugs outside the board before the exchange is made.

When the exchange (if it is necessary) has been completed, Player A begins a running record of the addition on their calculator by recording the new amount added. So, if 6 was rolled following the turn above that produced 5, Player A would now press [+] [6] [=] and the screen would show 11.

Note: Using the calculator provides a visual link between the symbolic representation on its screen, the kinaesthetic action of placing the plugs and current number of tens and ones.

In this Year 1 at Holy Rosary School, Derby, the child on the right has already made 10 once (indicated by the blue plug) and has rolled three more towards the next one.
	Now she has plugged in the those three. Take every opportunity to encourage children to read the number they are currently up to. In this case, she is up to 19. This class is playing to be the first to make 5 tens (5 blue plugs).

Tens Only Version

The children begin by playing Ten Friends and when the frame is filled they place a red plug on the 'possy mat' to record it. They say to each other: We made ten. They can also keep a running record on the calculator using addition.

Players swap roles and play Ten Friends again. This time when they transfer their red plug to the 'possy mat' they say to each other: We made ten more. Ten and ten make twenty, and touch the red plugs as they say it. So, after two frames, the children would see:

OUR MAT

The game continues in this way as far as the children can take it, but, eventually - and very soon for some children - until they can say (and touch):

Variations

1. Use a reduced pack of cards (1 - 9) to generate the numbers instead of a dice.
2. Some teachers may prefer a more structured recording sheet like this to keep track of tens. For example this:

10	20	30	40	50

60

or this:

10	30	50

20	40	60

Return to Calculating Changes Activities