Resources/Place value practice: tens, ones, and hundreds
Grades 1-2•Printable worksheet + answer key•CC0 license

Place value practice: tens, ones, and hundreds

A printable lesson focused on building base-ten understanding.

Students learn to read, write, and compare numbers using tens and ones.

Print-ready worksheet with answer key and quick teaching tips.

Grades 1-20 problems10 minAnswer key included
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Ready-to-teach

Clear steps, examples, and practice in one printable page.

Misconception-proof

Highlights common mistakes and how to fix them quickly.

Open license

CC0: free to copy, adapt, and share without attribution.

Quick overview

This free place value worksheet for grades 1-2 focuses on tens, ones, and expanded form.

Lesson plan snapshot

10-15 min
  • Warm-up (2 min): build a number with base-ten blocks.
  • Model (3 min): solve the worked example together.
  • Guided practice (4 min): complete problems 1-3 as a group.
  • Independent practice (5 min): finish the remaining problems.

Materials: base-ten blocks, pencil

Learning targets

  • Identify tens and ones in two-digit numbers.
  • Write numbers in expanded form.
  • Compare numbers using place value.

Step-by-step approach

  1. 1Break the number into tens and ones.
  2. 2Write the expanded form (42 = 40 + 2).
  3. 3Compare tens first, then ones.
  4. 4Use base-ten blocks or drawings to check.

Common mistakes

Mistake

Reading 41 as 14.

Try instead

Say the number and point to tens and ones.

Mistake

Comparing ones before tens.

Try instead

Compare tens first; tens decide the larger number.

Mistake

Mixing up place values when writing expanded form.

Try instead

Write tens as multiples of 10 and ones as single digits.

Worked example

Guided
Write 56 in expanded form.
  1. 56 has 5 tens and 6 ones.
  2. So 56 = 50 + 6.
Answer: 50 + 6

Related resources

Counting

Count, compare, and write numbers to 20.

View resource

Addition & subtraction

Fluency within 20 with visual strategies.

View resource

Decimals

Decimal place value and comparison.

View resource

Practice problems

10 problems • 15 min

Printable worksheet
  1. 1
    Which is greater: 457 or 829?
  2. 2
    What digit is in the hundreds place of 270?
  3. 3
    5 tens and 1 ones = ___
  4. 4
    Write 381 in expanded form.
  5. 5
    What digit is in the hundreds place of 321?
  6. 6
    2 tens and 6 ones = ___
  7. 7
    What is the value of the tens digit in 8637?
  8. 8
    3 tens and 6 ones = ___
  9. 9
    What is 10 more than 49?
  10. 10
    Write 847 in expanded form.

Answer key

10 answers
  1. 11) 829
  2. 22) 2
  3. 33) 51
  4. 44) 300 + 80 + 1
  5. 55) 3
  6. 66) 26
  7. 77) 30
  8. 88) 36
  9. 99) 59
  10. 1010) 800 + 40 + 7

Teacher tips

  • TUse base-ten blocks for every new place value concept.
  • THave students build numbers before writing them.
  • TUse number lines for comparison activities.

Parent tips

  • PUse house numbers or prices to practice place value.
  • PAsk your child to read numbers out loud.
  • PPractice expanded form with sticky notes.

Open license

You are free to copy, adapt, and share these materials. No attribution required. Released under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (public domain).