Delaware Grade 1 Math

Work through the example

A child has 13 counters and receives 5 more. How many counters are there now? Keep one group of ten together and show the remaining counters separately.

Connect the model and calculation

Thirteen is one group of ten and three more. Adding five changes the three loose counters to eight, while the group of ten stays together. The total is ten and eight, or 18. The equation 13 + 5 = 18 records what the model shows. Counting on from 13 also reaches 18, but the ten-and-ones model helps the child explain the structure of the total.

Understand an incorrect answer

If the answer is 17, listen to the count: the child may count 13 as the first added counter. Start after 13 and make five new counts. If the answer is 135, compare joining counters with placing written digits side by side. Ask the child to show the quantity before returning to the equation. Do not ask for faster answers until the method is understood.

Transfer the idea to another example

Try 8 + 6 with the same counters. Move two of the six to the eight to make ten; four remain, so 8 + 6 is 14. Explain why moving counters does not change how many there are. Then try 9 + 4 independently and compare its make-ten step. Keep the set small enough that a child can show the reasoning, and use a drawing after the concrete model is comfortable. The Grade 1 standard includes work within 20 and fluency within 10; these teen-number models are teaching examples rather than a timed fluency requirement.

Selected Delaware Grade 1 references

The Delaware mathematics standards directory links the Common Core publisher. Delaware’s standards regulation, section 1.1.1.1, identifies adoption for the 2010–11 school year. Use the adopted document alongside the school’s instructional plan. These labels summarize the activity’s focus; read the complete expectations and mathematical practices in the publisher’s mathematics document.

Sources checked October 5, 2026. This selected activity is an entry point for instruction, not a complete curriculum checklist.

Connect the explanation with practice

Visit the Grade 1 math learning Online Center for broader support or browse available practice through the worksheet finder. This is a general collection, not a certification of complete Delaware alignment.

Grade 1 is below Delaware’s Smarter Balanced mathematics testing range, which begins in Grade 3. Use classroom observations, models, and explanations to plan early learning. Read Delaware’s official summative assessment overview.

Keep one example of the student’s reasoning with the practice result. Choose a smaller model, a related question, or a new context according to the difficulty revealed in the worked activity.

Delaware Grade 1 math: useful study questions