1st Grade Ten More Ten Less Worksheet: Color, Then Write

Ask a six-year-old for the number that is 10 more than 47, and many will start counting on their fingers: 48, 49, 50, all the way up. It works, but it is slow and easy to get wrong. This 1st grade ten more ten less worksheet invites a faster way. Each box asks one question, such as "Which number is 10 less than 43?" In the top six boxes, your child colors the right answer among three numbers. In the nine boxes below, they write it on the line. The numbers run from 1 to 100, and the questions switch between more and less. A second page gives the answer key.

Why only one digit moves

Adding ten to a number changes its tens, not its ones. So 47 becomes 57, and 43 becomes 33 when you take ten away. The ones digit stays still, while the tens digit goes up or down by one.

Seeing this is a big step in place value, because it turns ten more and ten less into mental math rather than long counting, and it prepares adding and taking away tens later on.

The choices on the page are built around this idea. For 10 less than 78, the options are 58, 70 and 68. Only one keeps the 8 in the ones place and has one ten fewer. Your child can find it by looking, not counting. Smart choices help.

At the table: 89, 100 and 1

Begin with one box and ask your child to point to the ones digit. Say, "Does this digit change when we add ten?"

The box with 10 more than 89 is a common trap, because 100 is one of the choices. A child who mixes up ten and one may pick it, so ask, "Is that ten more, or one more?"

In the writing part, 10 less than 100 makes many children hesitate, since 100 has three digits. Ask, "How many tens are in 100?" Let them think it through.

Finally, 10 more than 1 is easy to rush, and some children write 2 out of habit. Ask them to read the question aloud once more.

Jumps of ten around the house

Ten more and ten less come up in daily life. While you shop, ask what a toy costing 17 dollars would cost with 10 more. Also, count pages in a book by tens and ask which page is ten back.

A hundred chart, from 1 to 100 in rows of ten, goes well with this page. Then play I Spy with it: "I spy a number ten more than 34." Your child moves a finger straight down one row to find it, and up one row for ten less.

When the page is finished, compare it with the answer key. Then praise the method: "You kept the ones and changed the tens." That is real number sense.