Tens, ones and number words

Make a ten

Count ten sticks. Tie them together. The bundle is one ten. It still holds ten sticks.

Make three bundles and put six loose sticks beside them. Count 10, 20, 30, then 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36. You have 36 sticks.

In 36, the 3 means three tens, or 30. The 6 means six ones. Write 36 = 30 + 6. Here + joins the tens and ones; = says the amounts on both sides match. Swapping the digits changes the amount: 63 is six tens and three ones.

Zero holds the ones place in 40. Four ones would be 4, not 40. Ten tens make 100, one hundred.

One ten and twelve loose ones make 22. Exchange ten of the loose ones for another ten. Now there are two tens and two ones. Writing 112 would join the counts as if they were digits; it would change the amount.

Read a number in both directions

To write fifty-two, first say “five tens and two ones”. Write 52. To read 28, say “two tens and eight ones”, then twenty-eight.

Some number words need care: 14 is fourteen, but 40 is forty. The number 14 has one ten and four ones. The number 40 has four tens and no ones. An empty collection is zero, written 0.

Cover the number column in the table. Use the tens and ones to write each number yourself. Then cover the words and read the numerals aloud.

Check your understanding 1 A number with no loose ones

You have seven bundles of ten sticks and no loose sticks. How many sticks are there?

Number of sticks

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70, seventy. Seven bundles are 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10. Writing 7 would count bundles, not sticks.

Which amount is greater?

Put 24 counters in one set and 29 in another. Match one counter from each set until the smaller set runs out. Five counters in the second set have no partner: 29 is greater than 24.

You can also compare place values. Both numbers have two tens. Compare their ones: nine is greater than four, so 29 is greater than 24.

For 38 and 42, compare the tens first. Four tens is greater than three tens. The eight ones in 38 do not make it greater than 42.

Check your understanding 2 Put the numbers in order

Write 46, 40 and 64 from smallest to greatest. Say which place helped you decide each step.

Smallest number

Middle number

Largest number

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40, 46, 64. Compare four tens with six tens first. Between 40 and 46, the tens match, so compare zero ones with six ones.

Try without bundles

Write eighty-five in numerals. Write 58 in words. Explain why the same two digits give different amounts.

Your numeral, number words and explanation, or work on paper