ALEX Classroom Resource

In Module 4, Topic A, students build upon their understanding of the base ten system and their prior knowledge of place value strategies presented in Module 3. In Lesson 1, students relate 10 more and 10 less and 1 more and 1 less to addition and subtraction. They recognize that they must add and subtract like units and that the digit in the tens place changes when adding and subtracting 10, just as the digit in the ones place changes when adding or subtracting 1. Students see numbers in terms of place value units; 54 – 10 is 5 tens 4 ones minus 1 ten. They learn to record the addition and subtraction of multiples of 10 using arrow notation. In Lesson 2, students apply place value understanding to add and subtract multiples of 10 before counting on by tens. For example, when adding 20 to 43, they may count 53, 63. Students also develop flexibility in using related addition problems. For example, to solve 92 – 60, one student might think 9 tens – 6 tens is 3 tens, plus 2 is 32, while another starts at 60, adds on 3 tens, and then 2 ones to reach 92, so 32.