Make 10 Worksheet

Making ten is an early addition strategy that helps form the base of many other mental math strategies students learn during their schooling.

This worksheet uses familiar counting cubes and tasks students with creating pairs of numbers that add together to make ten. Students color the cubes two different colors, splitting the ten in two and then creating a number sentence. Practicing this helps students recall the “friends of ten,” i.e., the pairs of numbers that add together to make ten.

An alternate version with the cubes already colored is included in the resource to help differentiate the task for students who may need assistance creating the pairs of numbers.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding  

In addition to individual student work time, use this worksheet as a:

• Lesson warm-up
• Lesson wrap-up
• Fast finishers 
• Homework assignment
• Whole-class review (via smartboard)

Expand this activity for more capable students by editing the document to create a making 20 worksheet.

Encourage students who need additional help to use concrete materials similar to the counting cubes pictured in the resource.

Easily Download & Print

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource. 

To save paper, we suggest printing this 2-page worksheet double-sided. 

Turn this teaching resource into a sustainable activity by printing on cardstock and slipping it into a dry-erase sleeve. Students can record their answers with a whiteboard marker, then erase and reuse them.

Additionally, project the worksheet onto a screen and work through it as a class by having students record their answers in their notebooks.

This resource was created by Kendall Britnell, a teacher in Colorado and Teach Starter Collaborator.