L9 Spring Identify One More and One Less within 50

Working Without Worksheets – Year 1 Place Value: One More and One Less Within 50 This Working Without Worksheets lesson supports children in developing fluency with finding one more and one less within 50 . Through active, practical learning, children use a 50-grid to visualise how numbers increase and decrease, while reinforcing their understanding of tens and ones. The starter activity makes counting interactive and fun: As a class, count from 1–50 together. Add in actions to strengthen number awareness: stomp on multiples of 10, clap on numbers with 4 ones, and jump on numbers with 2 tens. This kinaesthetic activity builds familiarity with place value patterns and prepares children for identifying one more and one less. In the main teaching input , children focus on finding one more and one less to 50: Model using the 50-grid and animated slides to show how a counter moves when adding or subtracting 1. Discuss how the grid looks different to a number line, particularly when moving into a new row (finding one more than a number ending in 9) or when moving to the end of the previous row (finding one less than a number ending in 1). Provide multiple worked examples to secure understanding and address common misconceptions. Practise completing stem sentences: “One more than ___ is ___” and “One less than ___ is ___.” The independent activity encourages children to apply their knowledge: Children choose a number between 20 and 50 and circle it on their 50-grid. They complete sentences in their books: My number is ___. One more than my number is ___. One less than my number is ___. As an extension, children can play “I am thinking of a number…” with a partner, giving more than/less than clues to identify the hidden number. The plenary consolidates learning: Use the animated slide to assess children’s ability to recall one more and one less. Include trickier sentence structures (e.g., “One less than 20 is ___”) to ensure children can apply their learning flexibly. Revea