Ten frames and hundred charts

Why use frames and charts?

Our number system is built on tens. Ten frames and hundred charts are two tools that let you see tens, so numbers make more sense.

A ten frame is a box with 2 rows of 5 squares:

□	□	□	□	□
□	□	□	□	□

Put one counter in each box to show a number. Always fill the top row first, from left to right, then the bottom row.

Here is 7:

●	●	●	●	●
●	●	□	□	□

Because the rows hold 5, you can see 7 as "5 and 2". You can also see it is 3 away from 10, because 3 boxes are empty.

Counters	You can see
5	One full row
8	5 and 3; needs 2 more to make 10
10	A full frame
13	One full frame and 3 more on a second frame

Two ten frames show numbers up to 20.

A hundred chart lists 1 to 100 in 10 rows of 10:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30

…and so on down to 100.

Patterns jump out:

Example 1: A ten frame has 7 counters. How many empty spaces?

The frame holds 10. 10 − 7 = 3 empty spaces.

Example 2: On a hundred chart, what number is directly below 24?

Moving down a row adds 10, so it is 34.

Example 3: Show 12 with ten frames.

One full ten frame (10) and 2 counters in a second frame. 10 + 2 = 12.

Forgetting that a full ten frame holds exactly 10. Count the boxes once and remember it.
Filling counters randomly. Fill the top row first so 5 is easy to spot.
Moving the wrong way on the hundred chart. Down adds 10; up takes away 10.

Answers: 1) 5 2) 1 3) 47 4) 40