Numbers to 10

Available Fall 2026

Students build number sense within 10 through counting, subitizing, and representing quantities. They compare and order numbers, explore 1 more and 1 less, and use five frames and ten frames to recognize structure and make sense of number relationships.

Math

Unit 2

Kindergarten

Unit Summary


In Unit 2, students build on the early number sense skills established in Unit 1, first within 5 in Topics A and B, then moving into numbers to 10 in Topics C and D. The math community continues to center student thinking, discourse, and joyful, playful engagement as students develop confidence and fluency with counting, representing, and comparing quantities.

In Unit 1, students developed foundational understanding of counting, one-to-one correspondence, and cardinality within 5. Through physical movement, counting collections, and math tool exploration, students connected quantities to multiple representations and began to see themselves as brilliant mathematicians whose ideas and strategies have value. 

In Topics A and B of Unit 2, students strengthen their understanding of numbers to 5 through subitizing, counting and building quantities, and connecting quantities to numerals, including writing numerals to represent quantities. They compare and order quantities within 5 using the language “more”, “fewer”, and “the same”, and explore number relationships by finding 1 more and 1 less.

In Topics C and D, this work extends to numbers within 10 as students use five frames and ten frames to recognize structure, represent quantities, and connect those quantities to numerals. They compare and order quantities within 10 and continue to use 1 more and 1 less to describe number relationships within the counting sequence.

Throughout the unit, students make sense of quantities and their relationships MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively. , look for and make use of structure MP.7 Look for and make use of structure. , and construct viable arguments as they share and justify their thinking MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. . This continues the critical work of representing and comparing whole numbers, building fluency within 5, and strengthening the numeracy foundation for future work with fluency within 10 1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 - 4 = 13 - 3 - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 - 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13). as well as addition and subtraction.

Assessment


The following assessments accompany Unit 2.

Student Observational Spreadsheet

Print the Student Observational Spreadsheet to use as a formative tool to monitor the progress of students throughout the unit.

Mid-Unit

Have students complete the Mid-Unit Assessment.

Post-Unit

Use the resources below to assess student understanding of the unit content and action plan for future units.

Unit Prep


Intellectual Prep

Intellectual Prep for All Units

  • Read and annotate the "Unit Summary" and "Essential Understandings" portions of the unit plan. 
  • Do all the Target Tasks and annotate them with the "Unit Summary" and "Essential Understandings" in mind. 
  • Take the Post-Unit Assessment.

Unit-Specific Intellectual Prep

Essential Understandings

  • Represent numbers and quantities in various ways, including; using objects, images, five frames, ten frames, number names, and written numerals.
  • Recognize quantities through subitizing, using patterns and structure to build efficient, flexible number sense.
  • Compare quantities and describe number relationships using the mathematical language “more”, “fewer”, and “same”.
  • Order numbers and quantities to build understanding of number relationships, including 1 more and 1 less.
  • Use five frames and ten frames to recognize structure, represent quantities, and reason about numbers within 10.

Materials

  • Scissors (1 pair per student)
  • Paper clips (1 per pair of students) — For game board
  • Linking cubes (1 bag of 10 per student and teacher)
  • Optional: Ten Frame Template (enough for 1 per student if requested)
  • Glue stick (1 per students)
  • Crayons (1 per student) — Alternately could use markers
  • Rekenrek (1 per group of 3-4 students and 1 for teacher)
  • Bear counters (2 sets per pair of students) — Sets should be 1 bag of 1 or 2 bear counters and 1 bag of 4 or 5 bear counters per pair of students and for teacher
  • Chart Paper (1 per class) — Prepare ahead with sentence frames for Anchor Tasks 1 and 2
  • Bags of objects (1 bag of 6 objects per pair of students)
  • Dot Cards (0-5) (1 per class)
  • Five Frame Template (1 per student) — These can be laminated and cut apart for individual use
  • Pond Story Mat (1 per student and 1 for teacher) — If possible print in color and on cardstock, can be laminated and cut apart for individual use
  • Small Cups (1 set of 6-10 per pair of students) — Alternately may use egg cartons pre-cut to 6-10 spaces
  • Optional: Percussion Instruments (1 per class) — These can include: a tone block, rhythm sticks, or drum, to play out rhythms for counting
  • Optional: Book: Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles – Think of That! by Leo Dillon (1 per class)
  • Race to 5 Game Board C (1 per pair of students)
  • Pencil (1 per pair of students) — For game board
  • Numeral Cards 0-10 (1 set per pair of students and 1 per teacher) — Print page 1, cards 0-5 only
  • Quantity Cards 0-5 (1 set per pair of students and teacher)
  • Playdough (1 per student) — Enough for each student to build large numbers using Number Mats
  • Sand trays (1 per pair of students) — Alternately may use salt
  • Number Mats (0-5) (1 per class) — Laminate and tape down to floor to use as life-sized number path
  • Number Writing Mats (0-5) (1 set per student)
  • Race to 5 Game Board D (1 per pair of students)
  • K Comparison Cards (1 set per pair of students and teacher) — These can be laminated and cut apart into 2 sets
  • Number Path 0-5 Handout (1 per student)
  • Clear packing tape (1 per class) — To tape down life-sized number path
  • Five Frame Dot Cards (6-10) (1 set per group of students and 1 for teacher)
  • Race to 10 Game Board E (1 per pair of students)
  • K Quantity Cards 6-10 (1 set per pair of students and teacher)
  • Number Mats (6-10) (1 set per pair of students) — Recommend laminating these to easily clean after playdough and sand tray use
  • Number Writing Mats (6-10) (1 set per student)
  • Race to 10 (Compare) Game Board F (1 per pair of students)
  • More, Fewer, Same: Compare
  • Number Path 0-10 Handout (1 per student) — Tape/paste the two halves of the number path together for each student before passing them out
  • Number Path 0-10 Mat

To see all the materials needed for this course, view our Kindergarten Course Material Overview.

Vocabulary and Models

Unit Vocabulary

fewer

more

same

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 2, view our Kindergarten Vocabulary Glossary.

Lesson Map


Topic A: Recognize and Count Numbers to 5

Topic B: Compare and Order Numbers to 5

Topic C: Recognize and Count Numbers 6-10

Topic D: Compare and Order Numbers to 10

Common Core Standards


Key

Major Cluster

Supporting Cluster

Additional Cluster

Core Standards

Counting and Cardinality

  • K.CC.A.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.
  • K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).
  • K.CC.B.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
  • K.CC.B.4.C Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.
  • K.CC.B.5 Count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1—20, count out that many objects.
  • K.CC.C.6 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies. Include groups with up to ten objects.
  • K.CC.C.7 Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals.

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

  • K.OA.A.3 Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

Standards for Mathematical Practice

  • MP.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Mathematically proficient students start by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and looking for entry points to its solution. They analyze givens, constraints, relationships, and goals. They make conjectures about the form and meaning of the solution and plan a solution pathway rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt. They consider analogous problems, and try special cases and simpler forms of the original problem in order to gain insight into its solution. They monitor and evaluate their progress and change course if necessary. Older students might, depending on the context of the problem, transform algebraic expressions or change the viewing window on their graphing calculator to get the information they need. Mathematically proficient students can explain correspondences between equations, verbal descriptions, tables, and graphs or draw diagrams of important features and relationships, graph data, and search for regularity or trends. Younger students might rely on using concrete objects or pictures to help conceptualize and solve a problem. Mathematically proficient students check their answers to problems using a different method, and they continually ask themselves, "Does this make sense?" They can understand the approaches of others to solving complex problems and identify correspondences between different approaches.
  • MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Mathematically proficient students make sense of quantities and their relationships in problem situations. They bring two complementary abilities to bear on problems involving quantitative relationships: the ability to decontextualize—to abstract a given situation and represent it symbolically and manipulate the representing symbols as if they have a life of their own, without necessarily attending to their referents—and the ability to contextualize, to pause as needed during the manipulation process in order to probe into the referents for the symbols involved. Quantitative reasoning entails habits of creating a coherent representation of the problem at hand; considering the units involved; attending to the meaning of quantities, not just how to compute them; and knowing and flexibly using different properties of operations and objects.
  • MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established results in constructing arguments. They make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the truth of their conjectures. They are able to analyze situations by breaking them into cases, and can recognize and use counterexamples. They justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others. They reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context from which the data arose. Mathematically proficient students are also able to compare the effectiveness of two plausible arguments, distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed, and—if there is a flaw in an argument—explain what it is. Elementary students can construct arguments using concrete referents such as objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions. Such arguments can make sense and be correct, even though they are not generalized or made formal until later grades. Later, students learn to determine domains to which an argument applies. Students at all grades can listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve the arguments.
  • MP.6 Attend to precision. Mathematically proficient students try to communicate precisely to others. They try to use clear definitions in discussion with others and in their own reasoning. They state the meaning of the symbols they choose, including using the equal sign consistently and appropriately. They are careful about specifying units of measure, and labeling axes to clarify the correspondence with quantities in a problem. They calculate accurately and efficiently, express numerical answers with a degree of precision appropriate for the problem context. In the elementary grades, students give carefully formulated explanations to each other. By the time they reach high school they have learned to examine claims and make explicit use of definitions.
  • MP.7 Look for and make use of structure. Mathematically proficient students look closely to discern a pattern or structure. Young students, for example, might notice that three and seven more is the same amount as seven and three more, or they may sort a collection of shapes according to how many sides the shapes have. Later, students will see 7 × 8 equals the well remembered 7 × 5 + 7 × 3, in preparation for learning about the distributive property. In the expression x² + 9x + 14, older students can see the 14 as 2 × 7 and the 9 as 2 + 7. They recognize the significance of an existing line in a geometric figure and can use the strategy of drawing an auxiliary line for solving problems. They also can step back for an overview and shift perspective. They can see complicated things, such as some algebraic expressions, as single objects or as being composed of several objects. For example, they can see 5 – 3(x – y)² as 5 minus a positive number times a square and use that to realize that its value cannot be more than 5 for any real numbers x and y.

Future Standards

Number and Operations in Base Ten

  • 1.NBT.A.1
  • 1.NBT.B.3

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

  • 1.OA.C.5

Standards for Mathematical Practice

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 — Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 — Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3 — Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 — Model with mathematics.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 — Use appropriate tools strategically.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP6 — Attend to precision.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 — Look for and make use of structure.

  • CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP8 — Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

New Math Materials Now Live!

New Math Materials Now Live!

Now Live: All new Grade 1 units and enhanced Grade 7-8 materials. Coming soon: Brand new Kindergarten course and enhanced Grade 6!