Find the Ten then Add Worksheet

Making a ten is the single most useful strategy a first grader can carry into every later addition problem, and this Find the Ten then Add Worksheet teaches it one clean step at a time. Each problem hands the child three addends and hides a friendly pair inside them — two numbers that snap together to make 10. Once the child spots that pair, a problem like 4 + 6 + 3 becomes 10 + 3, and a teen answer arrives without counting on fingers. Children who own this move add within twenty quickly and confidently, and they carry the same thinking straight into two-digit addition, where making a ten is exactly what regrouping is.

The worksheet opens with four make-a-ten problems, each in its own card. The three addends sit across the top, an arrow points down to the rewritten problem, and the child writes the leftover addend and the total in printed answer boxes. The pair that makes ten moves around the trio from problem to problem, so children have to read the numbers rather than guess a position. The page finishes with two story problems that put the same strategy into a real setting, so children practice pulling three numbers out of a sentence and choosing to look for the ten. Use this first grade addition worksheet as morning work, as a check after a mini-lesson, as homework, or as a warm-up before a fact fluency game.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 4 make-a-ten problems with printed answer boxes
• 2 three-addend story problems

There are three reasons this Find the Ten then Add Worksheet helps children learn. First, rewriting the problem as 10 + something makes the strategy visible on paper instead of leaving it in a child’s head, so a teacher can see exactly where the thinking broke down. Second, every total lands between eleven and nineteen, which is precisely the range where counting on stops being reliable and a strategy has to take over. Third, the two story problems ask a child to find three numbers inside a sentence, the step most first graders find hardest and the one that word problems on tests always require.

Teachers and parents can stretch this skill well beyond the page. Lay out ten counters and ask which two piles fill the frame. Play a card game where each player turns three cards and hunts for the pair that makes ten. Say three numbers aloud at the table and race to name the friendly pair. Write a three-addend problem on a sticky note and let the child circle the ten before solving. Sing along with the Have Fun Teaching Adding 10 Song, then come straight back to the sheet while the pattern is fresh.

Related Resources

• Numbers that Make 10 Worksheet
• Using a Tens Frame to Show Addition Worksheet
• Addends to 20 Addition Problem Solving Worksheet
• Adding 10 Song (Lyric Music Video)