Apple Addition with Ten Frames – Decompose Numbers {FREE}
Want to help your kids better understand addition, composing and decomposing numbers and exploring ways to make ten? This adorable set of Apple Addition with Ten Frames provides helpful visuals, perfect for fall math learning!
It’s back to school time, and that means learning math with apples! I have lots of apple math resources available, but today is especially focused on addition within 10. Using ten frames as a visual model will help kids build number sense as they make combinations, break apart the number ten and even find the missing addend. And while I always love hands on math (including apples and apple slices!), the benefit of these pages is that they are no prep and no mess! Just print and explore a variety of essential math concepts with your kindergarten or first grade students. Learn more about what you’ll get in this free set of Apple Addition with Ten Frames coloring pages below.
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The Benefits of Using Ten Frames
This set of addition pages specifically uses ten frames to help students “see” quantities and sums. These are laid out horizontally to help students see groups of 5 and some more, from left to right.
Ten frames are just one visual that can help students develop the skill of subitizing. This means “seeing” quantities without counting each individual object.
Think of a die, for instance. When you roll a die, you likely don’t have to count the dots to see what you rolled. You know at a glance when you see a ‘5.’
Ten frames can provide an additional visual model for numbers, and have the added benefit of making sense of our base ten system.
For instance, we can easily see different combinations of 10 when they are modeled on a ten frame. Knowing how to “make ten” is a foundational skill that students will continue to use as they explore larger numbers, larger sums and even subtraction and multiplication.
This set of ten frame addition pages utilize ten frames in a few different ways to build number sense and practice addition skills.
Apple Addition Within Ten
The first two coloring pages in the free download are simple addition practice pages. But to solve, students color in apples on the ten frame using two different colors to model the problem.
They may not realize it, but seeing each combination with different colors and within the ten frame will help students gain fluency with certain facts.
For instance, when they color to add 3 + 2, they will see it as a group of 3 and a group of 2, for a total of 5. This will help make the connection in their brain that they can recall later.
Making Ten with Apple Ten Frames
The next two coloring pages focus on ‘making ten.’ Students are given a blank set of equations and must find all the combinations that equal ten by coloring in the apples.
Some students may work systematically, starting with 1+9, then 2+8, etc. but others may just start randomly coloring.
Resist the urge to stop them, correct them, or tell them how to work through it. Students may not see a pattern initially, but playing around with numbers and writing different equations will help them to see patterns on their own eventually.
If you have students who struggle with this, you might grab a hands on manipulative for them to physically separate on the tabletop. You could use apple slices, like in this activity, but you don’t have to. It can be anything at all–blocks, coins, pom poms, etc. Just give them a set of 10 and have them make different groups out of it.
For more “make ten” practice, try this simple card game!
Solve for the Missing Addend
The last two coloring pages increase the challenge by asking students to find the missing addend. By now they should be familiar with representing addition on a ten frame, but if they’re unsure how to start, here are some ideas to help.
First, talk about what addition means. Make sure they are clear about what the question is asking. What exactly does 2 + __ = 8 mean?
Next, remind them they can still color the apples to represent the two parts. Begin by coloring the first part one color. If they are not sure how to color the second part (since it is unknown), ask them to circle the ‘whole’ on the ten frame-in this case, 8.
Hopefully they are able to recognize where 8 is on the ten frame and can find it without counting.
When they see the first part colored (2) and the whole circled (8), they will hopefully then see on the ten frame that the missing part is the number of apples between 2 and 8, or 6 additional apples.
They should then be able to complete the pages on their own.
Ready to get started? Just grab the free set of apple addition worksheets in my shop using the link below!
