Adding 10 Word Problems Worksheet

Adding 10 is the fact that turns counting into place value, and this adding 10 word problems worksheet gives that fact a story to live in. When a first grader hears that someone already has five pebbles and then finds ten more, the child can count on ten one at a time, or notice that the ones digit never moves and the tens digit simply grows by one. That second noticing is the beginning of real number sense, and it is much easier to see inside a sentence about pebbles than inside a bare column of digits. Word problems are where the strategy proves itself, because the numbers arrive wrapped in language instead of already lined up and waiting.

This printable worksheet holds five short addition stories, each one a single line a child or a teacher can read out loud. Under every story sits a matching number sentence with the first number and the plus ten already printed, so the child writes only the total on a wide, roomy answer line. The stories stay inside familiar things at this age, with apples in a basket, pebbles beside a garden pond, cards made for a teacher, stickers on a paper, and plums picked at a farm, and every total stays within twenty. A full answer key is the last page, so checking the work takes seconds.

What’s Included

• One printable page with five adding 10 word problems, each with a matching number sentence
• Wide, first-grade-sized answer lines that line up in one clean column down the page
• An answer key page showing every correct total
• A print-ready PDF for the classroom, the homeschool table, or a math center

This first grade addition worksheet helps children in three ways. First, it makes adding ten automatic, which frees up working memory for the harder two-digit work that follows. Second, it builds the habit of reading a problem for meaning before reaching for a pencil, which is the skill that word problems test all the way through school. Third, it separates the story from the number sentence on purpose, so a child can see exactly how everyday language turns into math notation.

Teachers and parents can stretch this page in several directions. Read each story aloud twice and ask the child to act it out with counters, beans, or blocks before writing anything. Build the second group on a ten frame so the child sees that ten more fills one whole frame every time. Cover the printed number sentence and let a confident student write the whole equation without help. Ask the child to make up a sixth story of their own about adding ten, then trade papers with a partner and solve each other’s problem. Say any number under ten and have the child answer with ten more as fast as they can. Each of these takes only a minute or two and keeps the adding 10 word problems worksheet useful long after the first pass through it.

Related Resources

• Addition Word Problems Worksheet
• Word Problems Addition Worksheet
• Addition Single Digit Word Problems Worksheet
• Adding 10 Song (Lyric Music Video)