A few years ago, I was in need of a resource that would help students build fluency beyond 20 so I created some Base Ten Cards. I’ve referred to the cards in presentations but I haven’t shared them in this space…until now.
Below you’ll find a downloadable set of the cards as well as some videos of us playing around in a first-grade classroom. I’ll go ahead and admit that there is a speed element in the videos that makes me a little queasy but with that being said, the student was comfortable so I felt like we were working at the speed of learning.
Some food for thought before diving in and test driving…
- I have to keep reminding myself that students need lots of opportunities to count and produce sets which isn’t always the case.
- The act of composing AND decomposing groups of ten is a huge understanding which remains underexplored in many of our primary classrooms.
- The key is to not move students too quickly to base ten blocks because it can really undermine the development of unitizing.
- Even though we call these “Base Ten Cards”, first-grade students see them as “Snap Cube Cards”.
Video 1: Shows the cards in action
Video 2: Adding a multiple of ten to a two digit number
Video 3: Adding 9 to a 2-digit number
Your turn.
Download the BASE TEN CARDS HERE, give them a try, and report back.
- How did it go?
- Any other ways we could use them?
- What am I missing?
- How can we make them better?
I would also like the research that backs the idea of not using base ten blocks until 2nd grade. As a classroom teacher, I found that the base ten blocks worked better than the unifix cubes for base ten understanding.
In response to your question about research, I believe some of the research around place value models and manipulatives can be found in van de Walle’s work. I do recall reading other research, perhaps from NCTM and National Research Council work, which supports use of grouping manipulatives. Illustrative Math also talks about this in their teacher resources. I do agree that some children can use the base-ten blocks, but for most students they need to build and create the understanding themselves. I see more misconceptions built in grades K-1 with over use of base ten blocks than actually building of understanding. This then becomes a procedure and not an understanding. As an elementary teacher and math specialist working with grades K-9, I observe students struggle with the place value system stemming from the overuse and procedural nature of base ten blocks. This first grade nugget impacts future work with PV in 3rd-5th grade which is rich with the multiplicative nature of the system. Students need to see the tenness, and this does not happen when they see a rod of one before they build that themselves. When a student naturally sorts large quantities into tens and some more, they are ready for a more efficient tool. This should happen by grade 2, but could occur earlier or later.
I feel like I recall watching a video where you shared that most students should not start using base 10 blocks in place of linking cubes until about the end of 2nd grade. Can you confirm this & share any research backing this up? Thank you!
Couldn’t the lines and dots be placed in a way that uses the skills of subtizing? This would facilitate quick calculation. For example, the points could be placed like the points on a die and the lines could be grouped by 4 so as not to have to count the lines or 4 lines and 1 placed diagonally on the 4 lines so as to quickly see that there are 5 of them.
They are organized like a 10 frame (2 rows or columns of 5) which can be used for conceptual subitizing if students are familiar with this structure. When working with larger numbers I find this to be the most effective format.
I just found these – thanks! I have made notes to look into using these to create a visual “I have -who has” game, race to 100 type of game, or using 2 cards to determine “how many more”… My middle school students have enjoyed quite a number of games with the fraction cards so I’m looking forward to using these with my youngers! Thanks!