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