Roll and Cover: Combinations for Ten Game

Written by Donna Boucher

Donna has been a teacher, math instructional coach, interventionist, and curriculum coordinator. A frequent speaker at state and national conferences, she shares her love for math with a worldwide audience through her website, Math Coach’s Corner. Donna is also the co-author of Guided Math Workshop.

Oh, how I love easy games that are engaging for the kiddos and require low prep time! Especially when those games develop critical skills, like composing and decomposing numbers and making combinations for ten.

This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally use and recommend.

Students who know their combinations for ten (ex., 3 + 7, 2 + 8, etc.), and understand how numbers can be decomposed, have powerful tools for developing fact fluency. For example, a student who knows that 5 can be decomposed into 2 and 3 can use that knowledge to master a more difficult fact, like 8 + 5, by making a 10 and then adding 3 more.

Along the same lines, a student can extend the knowledge that 7 and 3 makes 10 to multi-digit numbers, and decompose 25 to grab a 3 and make a friendly number out of 37.

You can never have too many games for practicing the combinations for ten, so today I have two versions of the same game, called Roll and Cover. The first is representational (pictorial), featuring ten frames. Players roll the ten-sided dice and look for the ten frame with the number that completes a ten. Because it’s pictorial, they have added support. When they roll a three, for example, they look for the ten frame with three empty spaces.

combinations for ten game

The other version is completely abstract. It’s the same game, but now when they roll a three, they put their marker on the number seven on their board, so they don’t have the visual.

combinations for ten game

Having two versions of the same game makes differentiating easy. Students in the same class can be playing the same game, but with different supports. One note, you’ll need ten-sided dice (0-9) to play this game.  If you are a Kinder or 1st-grade teacher, ten-sided dice are a great tool to have in your classroom, because they lend themselves to any game that practices combinations for ten.

Grab both versions of the game for free here.  Enjoy!!

17 Comments

  1. Hanounaa

    Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      You’re welcome!!

      Reply
  2. L. Ott

    I want to order some ten-sided dice for my class. They come as 0 – 9 or 1 – 10. Which type of dice should I buy? Thanks, Linda lott@telus.net

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      The ones I have are 0-9, Linda, so those would be the ones that would work with these game boards.

      Reply
  3. Jessica

    Love this! Thanks for creating it!

    What I Have Learned

    Reply
  4. TheElementary MathManiac

    Great games! Very important skill. 0-9 dice are essential for classroom teachers!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

    Reply
  5. Sara at school

    “Sending” this to school right now so I can print it off. Thanks for sharing. Sara

    Reply
  6. Karen Raistrick

    HI! The link at the bottom for the games actually links to a one-page worksheet for making numbers 11-20. Can you fix the link? I’d love this resource! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      Wow, thanks for the head’s up! I’ve fixed the link. 😊

      Reply
      • Karen Raistrick

        You’re welcome! Thank you for the quick fix. I love your resources!

        Reply
  7. Rebecca Sorensen

    Thank you so much for all of the resources you have shared. My students who struggle have benefitted greatly.

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      Thank you for the kind words! I love helping teachers and students get excited about math! 🤩

      Reply
  8. Monica Jimenez

    I do not have drop box. Is there anywhere else I can print these games?

    Reply
  9. Monica Jimenez

    My computer will not connect to dropbox. Is there any where else I can get these games?

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      I’m sorry, Monica. That’s where I house my files. You don’t have to have a Dropbox account to download them.

      Reply
  10. Joséfa Villafana

    Hello I notice 7our site says “Free Resource” but I can’t find a link to download what I’m interested in.

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      There is a link at the bottom of the post. 🙂

      Reply

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