Place value: 2-digit numbers
Worksheet + game · PDF · free
A two-digit number is tens and ones. In 47, the 4 means four tens (40), not four ones; the 7 means seven ones. Base-ten blocks and place-value grids make this visible — four ten-sticks and seven unit cubes. Zero in the ones (30) needs explicit teaching. Reading and writing numerals, saying 'forty-seven' not 'four seven', and partitioning 47 as 40 + 7 support addition and subtraction without regrouping. This is the gate to column methods and to understanding that digit position changes value.
Worked example
Build 47 with base-ten blocks: 4 tens and 7 ones. 40 + 7 = 47. Swap one ten for ten ones and you still have 47 — the value is unchanged, only the shape.
Watch for this
Writing 47 as 4 and 7 without place value — treating digits as separate labels — leads to errors like 4 + 7 = 11 for '47'. Always name the columns: '4 tens, 7 ones.'
Print this skill
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Same facts, played
A short game that drills the same idea after the page is printed.