Second Grade · Math · week 3

Hundreds, tens, and ones

Represent numbers with base-ten blocks and read the value they show.

Numbers up to 1000 are built from three kinds of blocks: a hundred flat (100), a ten rod (10), and a one cube (1). Count the flats, then the rods, then the cubes to find the total.

Always count in the same order: hundreds first, then tens, then ones. That order matches how we write and say the number.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Base-ten blocks (or a home substitute -- index cards for flats, straws bundled by ten, beans for ones) make place value concrete.
  • Always build in order: hundreds, then tens, then ones, saying the value of each as you go.
  • Watch for zero tens or zero ones -- the block is just missing, not skipped in the number.
  • Have them build a number, then you build a different one, and compare the two piles.
Talk about it:
  • Why does the flat stand for 100 and not some other number?
  • What happens to a number when it has zero tens?
  • How do blocks help you see what a number really means?

Mastery looks like: They build and read any 3-digit number with blocks, naming hundreds, tens, and ones correctly.

Common stumbles: Skipping a zero place instead of recording it; miscounting a pile of many single cubes.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Place ValueWatch ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands build big numbers.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Math for this learner.
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