About this worksheet
Place value is the idea that the same digit means different amounts depending on where it sits, and it is the foundation of every later arithmetic method. First graders meet three specific ideas: that ten ones can be bundled into one ten, that the teen numbers are a ten plus some ones, and that 20, 30, 40 and so on are whole tens with no ones left over. Base-ten blocks make this visible, which is why every question on this page shows the blocks rather than only the numeral. Children who can already say 47 often still think the 4 means four rather than forty, and that misunderstanding surfaces later as errors in column addition. Ask your child to say the number two ways each time: forty-seven, and four tens and seven ones.
What your child will learn
- Understand that ten ones make one ten
- Say a two-digit number as tens and ones
- Read teen numbers as a ten plus some ones
- Recognise whole tens such as 30, 60 and 90
- Build a number from base-ten blocks
Worked example
The picture shows 5 tall rods and 3 small cubes. Five tens is 50, and three ones is 3, so the number is 53.
Common mistake
Reading 47 as four and seven instead of four tens and seven ones.
Helpful hint
Count the rods by tens first, then add the loose cubes.