TENosaurus! He’s a loveable dino who loves everything about the number TEN, and he has made the making 10 addition strategy so much fun for my firsties!
The making ten addition strategy is a skill that is used to teach little ones how to be flexible when they are adding. As adults, we may not even realize how much we use this strategy in our everyday lives. If I am strolling through Target, and I see amazing shoes for $29 and a must-have scarf for $14, I don’t pull out my stratch paper. My brain computes just 30+13 because adding with a group of ten is always simple or in first grade terms “TEN is our math friend!”
Bringing TENosaurus to my classroom has kept my firsties super engaged during math! I use projectable lessons in my classroom, because they are comprehensive, interactive, and no prep! Every lesson is ready to go so I just print the slides for my lesson plan binder. We work through the lessons together on our promethean board. Every lesson has a game, problem solving activity, lots of guided practice, partner work, printables, and a work mat!
If you’ve taught the making ten strategy before, you may know that it takes practice! So we also hang out with TENosaurus during calendar time! I added this work mat to my number of the day board. I use magnets for counters, and we practice making groups of ten together. This time helps me focus on a couple of friends who may need extra practice! To grab their attention, I make a big deal about waking TENosaurus in the morning to join us. He’s always grumpy and silly because he doesn’t really want to get up until 10:00, of course!
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My kiddos have LOVED having Tenosaurus around to help us with math this week. They will FLIP over these fun activities!!