This year, first graders will be introduced to place value and our base 10 number system, usually by starting with 2-digit numbers (100 or less). This guided lesson helps introduce place value to first graders through instruction and examples targeted to this skill. If your child finishes the lesson and needs more practice with place value, download and print the accompanying worksheets suggested by our curriculum team.

Understanding how our ten number system works enables students to see interesting and useful patterns and relationships in these math activities. These patterns allow students to develop more efficient mental math strategies when multiplying by multiples of 10 or 100. Students will also review rounding and apply this skill to larger numbers - up to 100,000’s place.

This lesson is a continuation of place value practice, and offers more instruction on identifying tens and ones in 2-digit numbers. Once first graders are able to quickly identify place value they are then able to understand on a deeper level what larger numbers actually mean. This is crucial for the math fluency that will support higher-level concepts in the later grades.