Mathematics · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Place Value: Tens and Ones

Active learning helps students grasp place value by making abstract ideas concrete. When children physically group objects into tens and ones, they see why two-digit numbers have special meaning. This hands-on work builds a mental model that counting by groups of ten is faster and more efficient than counting by ones.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9M1N02

• 20–35 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 30 min · Pairs

Grouping Challenge: Bundle the Beans

Provide 20-50 dried beans per pair. Students count by ones first, then regroup into tens and ones, recording the number on place value mats. Discuss which method is quicker and why. Extend by trading 10 ones for a ten bundle.

Justify why counting large groups by tens is more efficient than by ones.

Facilitation Tip

During Grouping Challenge: Bundle the Beans, circulate and ask students to count aloud as they bundle to reinforce the count of ten in each group.

What to look for

Present students with a collection of 37 counters. Ask them to physically group the counters into tens and ones. Observe if they correctly form three groups of ten and have seven individual ones remaining.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 25 min · Small Groups

Base-Ten Build-Off: Race to Represent

In small groups, call out numbers like 45. Students race to build with base-ten blocks on mats, then swap and verify each other's models. Rotate roles to explain the tens and ones.

Compare different ways to represent the same number using base-ten blocks.

Facilitation Tip

During Base-Ten Build-Off: Race to Represent, set a timer so students feel urgency to work quickly, reinforcing the efficiency of counting by tens.

What to look for

Give each student a card showing a number, for example, 52. Ask them to draw the number using base-ten blocks (rods for tens, squares for ones) and write a sentence explaining how many tens and ones are in the number.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 35 min · Whole Class

Number Line Leap: Tens Jumps

Mark a floor number line to 100. Students hold ten-frames or blocks and leap tens to reach target numbers, naming the tens and ones at each stop. Record jumps on individual sheets.

Predict the change in a number's value when a digit moves from the ones to the tens place.

Facilitation Tip

During Number Line Leap: Tens Jumps, have students whisper-count their jumps aloud to internalize the sound of ten as a unit.

What to look for

Show two different representations of the same number, such as 4 tens and 6 ones versus 3 tens and 16 ones. Ask students: 'Are these numbers the same? How do you know? Which representation is easier to count and why?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Stations Rotation
• 20 min · Pairs

Digit Switch Prediction: Place Value Flip

Give cards with numbers like 19. Students predict and build what happens if the 1 moves to tens place (91), using blocks to check value change. Pairs justify the difference.

Justify why counting large groups by tens is more efficient than by ones.

Facilitation Tip

During Digit Switch Prediction: Place Value Flip, pause after each flip to ask students to share their predictions before revealing the new number.

What to look for

Present students with a collection of 37 counters. Ask them to physically group the counters into tens and ones. Observe if they correctly form three groups of ten and have seven individual ones remaining.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach place value through repeated, structured exploration rather than explanation alone. Use consistent materials like beans and pipe cleaners so students build mental images that transfer across tasks. Avoid rushing to symbolic notation; let students verbalize their thinking before writing digits. Research shows that movement and physical grouping strengthen memory for place value concepts in young learners.

By the end of these activities, students will confidently bundle groups of ten, compare two-digit numbers, and explain how changing a digit affects the total value. They will use base-ten materials to justify their reasoning and solve simple place value problems independently.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Grouping Challenge: Bundle the Beans, watch for students who count each bean in a bundle instead of recognizing it as a single unit of ten.

  Ask the student to recount the bundle as ten without touching each bean, then have them count on from ten to show how bundling speeds the count. Ask, 'Which way was faster, counting all the beans or counting by tens?'.

• During Digit Switch Prediction: Place Value Flip, watch for students who think 12 becomes 21 by simply swapping digits, expecting little change in value.

  Use base-ten blocks to model 12 as one ten and two ones, then physically swap the blocks to make 21 as two tens and one one. Ask them to compare the total blocks before and after, highlighting the tenfold increase.

• During Number Line Leap: Tens Jumps, watch for students who count each jump as one instead of recognizing each jump as ten.

  Have the student stand on the number line and leap while whisper-counting, 'ten, twenty, thirty.' Stop after each leap to ask, 'How many ones is that jump? How many tens?'.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation