Place value
Place value means a digit's value depends on its position in a number. In 352, the 3 is worth 300, the 5 is worth 50 and the 2 is worth 2.
Maths · Ages 6–7 · 50 minutes
Place value with tens and ones
Children show two-digit numbers with tens and ones and explain what each digit is worth.
Success criteria
- I can make a number with tens and ones
- I can say what each digit is worth
- I can read a number from a picture of tens and ones
Key vocabulary
- tens
- ones
- digit
- place value
- worth
- partition
- exchange
You will need
- bundles of 10 straws and loose straws (or base-ten blocks)
- place-value mats
- digit cards 0–9
- mini whiteboards
Curriculum links
- Year 2· England
- Grade 1· United States
- Primary 2· Nigeria
- Class 2· India
Practice sheets
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Tens and ones
Tens and ones
Hundreds, tens and ones
1.Starter
8 minutesCount in tens from 0 to 100 together, then back. Then count in tens from 4: 4, 14, 24, 34. "What stays the same? What changes?" Children should notice that the ones digit stays the same.
Quick fire on whiteboards: "Write the number that is ten more than 23." Repeat with 41 and 70.
2.Teach
12 minutesTip out 34 loose straws. "How many? Counting one by one would take ages. Let's make bundles of ten." Bundle three tens with elastic bands while children count. Four are left over.
"Three bundles of ten and four ones. That's 30 and 4, which makes 34."
Put them on a place-value mat: tens on the left, ones on the right. Write 34 above. Point to the 3: "This 3 isn't worth three. It's worth three tens: thirty." Point to the 4: "This one is worth four ones."
Step by step
- Make tensGroup in tens wherever you can.
- Count the tens, then the ones"three tens, four ones".
- Say what each digit is worth"the 3 is worth 30, the 4 is worth 4, and 30 + 4 = 34".
Now swap the digits: 43. "Same digits. Is it the same number?" Build it: four bundles and three loose straws. "Place changes value. That's why it's called place value."
Show one tricky case: 40. "Four tens and no ones. The zero holds the ones place, so we don't mix 40 up with 4."
