Tools for Decomposing 10!

Some of my tools!

I have been working on a laundry themed math pack for the last month, so I have had laundry on the mind.  I probably have it on my mind, because of the piles of it waiting to be put away in my bedroom!!!

Anyway, I wanted to come up with a CHEAP and effective way for students to play with numbers.  Here I am focusing on 10, but you could have a different hanger for every number.  This tool is super easy to make, but it is really great for your kinesthetic and visual learners.

You need to start with a hanger, clothespin, paper towel roll, tape, and some card stock.  I got a pack of 10 hangers at the dollar store.  First get a paper towel roll and mark 10 equal units.  I eyeballed it, but you can certainly measure to be more accurate.

 Cut out all the circles.

 Cut each circle in half and tape it back together around the hanger.  You could make these more durable by covering them with decorative duck tape.

 To put a definite space between the two sets of numbers, I picked a clothespin.  I cut out a piece of card stock and drew an = sign on it.  It you are using this in a center, you probably should laminate the little card.  I hot glued it to the bottom of the clothespin.

The last step is to hot glue the number to the top of the hanger.  In this case it is 10, but you can make different hangers with different numbers.

You made a decomposing hanger!

I wanted to add a ten frame component to my tools.  I wanted students to be able to represent the numbers they made on the hanger on the ten frame.  This will help me to assess their grasp of number sense.  I got a piece of foam board from Walmart and some plastic cups at the dollar store.  I actually recommend getting paper soup cups instead.  These plastic cups tend to crack.

I was able to hot glue 3 ten frames on the foam board.  The foam board is very durable and sturdy.

Next, you want to use a box cutter to separate the ten frames.

 Then you have a large ten frame!  You can also use egg cartons.  See a post and freebie here.

We used the decomposing hanger, the ten frame, and a white board to identify the different ways that we could make 10.  Students are really required to interact with the numbers in many different ways.

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You can also make your own magnetic frames with double sided counters.  Get a template and some extension activities for free here.  This makes decomposing numbers a snap!  Students can learn about decomposing numbers while playing with the counters.  Here is an example of using the ten frame and counters with a page from my "How's It Hangin'?" pack.  You can get it free here.

I am linking up with Teaching Momster for the Wednesday Weekly Math Link-Up!

This week's link up is all about decomposing numbers!  Click the button to read more:

Thanks so much for exploring 10 with me!  Hope you found some helpful ideas!  Do you have any other ideas for decomposing numbers?  I would love to hear from you!