Making Ten to Add: Breaking a Number Apart to Reach Ten First

Look for this idea outside of your lessons today. Moving things around without changing the amount is a grown up skill. A mover repacks a truck so boxes fit better. The load still weighs the same. This is worth learning because making ten is the strategy that carries you into two digit addition later.

Let us look at this together. Here is a powerful move. To add 8 plus 5, first ask what eight needs to reach ten. It needs two. Break the five into two and three. Give the two to the eight. Now you have a friendly ten.

Ten plus three is thirteen. You did not change the total at all. You only rearranged it into a friendlier shape. Try this one carefully. For 7 plus 6, seven needs three to reach ten. Break the six into three and three. Seven plus three makes ten, and three is left, so the answer is thirteen.

The number you break apart is always the second one. You break off exactly what the first number needs. Say it out loud once, then try it with real objects. God made numbers orderly, and that order helps us think well. Watch for this idea today. When you spot it, tell someone what you noticed and how you knew.