Skip to content
LessonPrint

Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens

A 40-minute Kindergarten lesson that fixes the two places rote counting breaks down: the decade bridge at 29 and counting by tens from anywhere other than ten.

Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens is a free 40-minute Kindergarten maths lesson plan for Common Core standard K.CC.A.1 — count all the way to 100, both one at a time and in tens. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
K.CC.A.1

Kindergarten · Counting & Cardinality

K.CC.A.1

Count to 100 by ones and by tens.

Objective

Students will be able to count to 100 by ones from any starting number, and count by tens from any starting number.

Students are successful when they can

  • Counts on from a given number (e.g. 47) without restarting at one.
  • Crosses a decade boundary — 29 to 30, 59 to 60 — without hesitating or skipping.
  • Counts by tens from a non-decade start, e.g. 4, 14, 24, 34.

What you need

  • A displayed hundred chart (wall chart or projected)
  • One paper hundred chart per pair
  • Counters or cubes, about 20 per pair
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — count and drop out

5 min
  1. Choral count from 0 to 30 with the whole class.
  2. Count again, but stop your own voice at 12 and let the class carry on. Listen for who is tracking the sequence and who is echoing the room half a beat late.
  3. Note the echoers. They are the students to seat near you in guided practice.
“I am going to start us off, then my voice disappears. Yours keeps going.”

Teach — the chart explains the pattern

12 min
  1. Display the hundred chart. Read one row aloud, left to right: 21, 22, 23 … 29, 30.
  2. Ask what changed and what stayed the same. Draw out that the first digit held still while the second climbed.
  3. Now read one column, top to bottom: 4, 14, 24, 34. Ask the same question. This time the second digit held still.
  4. Name it: counting by tens means moving straight down the chart. It is not a song that starts at ten.
  5. Model two decade bridges deliberately — 29 to 30 and 59 to 60 — pointing at the chart as you cross. These are the joints that break.
“Counting by tens is not a song. It is one step down the chart, every time, from wherever you are.”

Guided practice — start and stop

12 min
  1. Pairs take one chart. Partner A names a start number and a stop number; Partner B counts between them, finger on the chart.
  2. First round: keep both numbers inside one row, so nobody has to bridge yet.
  3. Second round: require the pair to cross a decade — start at 27, stop at 34. Circulate and listen at exactly that crossing.
  4. Third round: counting by tens, starting from a number that is not a decade. Start at 6.

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete a missing-number section of a hundred chart on paper, working alone.
  2. Leave the wall chart visible. The goal today is the sequence, not recall from memory.
  3. Watch for students who fill every square by counting from 1 each time — they need the counting-on support below.

Close

3 min
  1. Whole class counts by tens from 3, then from 7.
  2. Ask one student to explain how they knew what came after 63.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Counts 27, 28, 29, then stops or says 'twenty-ten'.

Why: The decade names are a separate vocabulary list from the ones. Nothing in 'twenty-nine' announces that 'thirty' is next, and a child who learned counting as one long chant has no rule to fall back on when the chant runs out.

Fix: Practise bridges in isolation, not as part of a long count. Ten seconds a day: '28, 29, …?' then '38, 39, …?' Once the bridge is automatic, the long count repairs itself.

Can count by tens as 10, 20, 30 but cannot count by tens from 4.

Why: They memorised the decade chant as a sequence of sounds, not as repeated addition of ten. The chant has no entry point other than its beginning.

Fix: Use the chart column. Put a finger on 4 and step down: 14, 24, 34. The physical move down the column is the same one that produced 10, 20, 30, and seeing that is the whole lesson.

Asked to count on from 47, restarts at 1.

Why: Counting is being used as a whole-sequence recitation rather than as a position on a line that can be entered anywhere.

Fix: Cover the chart above the start number with a sheet of paper. There is nothing to count back to, so the only available move is forward.

If they are not there yet

  • Restrict the range to 0-30 and add ten to the ceiling only once bridges inside it are secure.
  • Give a number line rather than a hundred chart. One dimension is easier to track than two while the sequence is still shaky.
  • Pair the count with a physical step or block placement so each number has an object attached to it.

If they finish early

  • Count by tens backwards from 94.
  • Ask what would change on a chart that was eight columns wide instead of ten, then let them build one and check.
  • Start a count at 96 and ask what happens after 100 — the pattern continues, and finding that out is worth more than another row of practice.

Exit ticket

Write the next four numbers: 58, 59, ___, ___, ___, ___

What to look for: A correct answer shows the decade bridge is secure. '60, 61, 62, 63' is the target. 'Fifty-ten' or a blank at the first box tells you the bridge, not the counting, is the thing to reteach — and that reteach is thirty seconds a day, not another whole lesson.

Printable practice for K.CC.A.1

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens

How long does the Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 12 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 3 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens teach?

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.1 — K.CC.A.1, Counting & Cardinality for Kindergarten: “Count to 100 by ones and by tens.” In plain terms, count all the way to 100, both one at a time and in tens.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

A displayed hundred chart (wall chart or projected), one paper hundred chart per pair, counters or cubes, about 20 per pair and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: counts 27, 28, 29, then stops or says 'twenty-ten'; can count by tens as 10, 20, 30 but cannot count by tens from 4 and asked to count on from 47, restarts at 1. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Write the next four numbers: 58, 59, ___, ___, ___, ___.” A correct answer shows the decade bridge is secure. '60, 61, 62, 63' is the target. 'Fifty-ten' or a blank at the first box tells you the bridge, not the counting, is the thing to reteach — and that reteach is thirty seconds a day, not another whole lesson. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens?

Yes — 2 printable K.CC.A.1 worksheets, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Counting to 100 by Ones and Tens free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 4 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-09-04. Aligned to K.CC.A.1 of the Common Core State Standards for mathematics.