Place value within 10 - Count one less - Worksheet

The "One Less" worksheet is a key component in teaching young learners the concept of counting backwards within the number range of 1 to 10. The National Curriculum objective for this lesson is to enable children to identify one less than a given number. To facilitate understanding, a variety of resources such as dice, dominoes, and number cards are employed alongside differentiated worksheets and teaching slides. These tools are particularly effective in helping children to visualize and represent numbers, enhancing their subitising skills—which is the ability to recognise the number of objects in a small group without counting.

Throughout the lesson, children are encouraged to use a number track to find one less than a number, and to represent their findings with pictures, digits, and words. This multi-faceted approach ensures that the learners can grasp the concept of 'one less' in a concrete manner. The lesson is structured to cater to different levels of understanding, from those working towards the objective to those working within it, and even to those capable of greater depth. Reasoning and problem-solving activities are incorporated to challenge the children further, where they answer true or false questions and complete sequences that require them to apply their knowledge of the concept of 'one less'. The goal is for the children to understand that finding 'one less' results in a smaller number and to be able to articulate and demonstrate this understanding both verbally and in written form.