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Common Core Math2nd GradeNumbers in Base Ten

2.NBT.1: Understand Hundreds, Tens and Ones

Also written as 2.NBT.A.1 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.1 · Cluster: Understand place value.

Get the Place Value ChartAll 26 2nd Grade Math Standards

The Official Wording

Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Understand the following as special cases:

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Number & Operations in Base Ten · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What 2.NBT.1 Means in Plain English

Second graders read a three-digit number like 347 as 3 hundreds, 4 tens and 7 ones, and can build it with base-ten blocks. Two ideas are new: a hundred is a bundle of ten tens, and 300 means three of those bundles, 0 tens and 0 ones.

The zero is the sticking point: in 406 the 0 holds the tens place so the 4 stays worth 400. Students who have this read, write and compare numbers to 1,000 with ease (2.NBT.3, 2.NBT.4), and in 3rd grade round to the nearest 10 or 100 (3.NBT.1).

2.NBT.1 I Can Statements

  • I can name the hundreds, tens and ones in a three-digit number.
  • I can show that 100 is the same as ten tens.
  • I can read 300 as three hundreds, 0 tens and 0 ones.

2.NBT.1 Worked Example

One number in three columns, where the 3 is not three but three hundreds, and the chart makes that visible.

347 by place value
3Hundreds
4Tens
7Ones
Build it with blocks: 3 flats (a flat is ten rods, or 100), 4 rods of ten and 7 single cubes. Count the flats by hundreds: 100, 200, 300.
300 + 40 + 7

three hundred forty-seven

Common Mistakes with 2.NBT.1

Reading digits as plain counts

347 is “3, 4 and 7”, or 3 + 4 + 7 = 14

Try this: Have the student build 347 with flats, rods and cubes, then count the flats by hundreds and the rods by tens aloud.

Dropping the zeros

“four hundred six” written as 46, or “five hundred” as 5

Try this: Use a three-column chart every time. Five hundred is 5 hundreds, 0 tens and 0 ones, so every column gets a digit.

Treating 100 as one big thing

Ten rods of ten counted as “10”, not as 100

Try this: Stack ten rods on a flat so they cover it exactly, then say it together: ten tens make one hundred.

Where 2.NBT.1 Fits

Comes Before1.NBT.2A two-digit number is tens and ones, and 10 is a bundle of ten ones.
Alongside2.NBT.2Count to 1,000 and skip-count by 5s, 10s and 100s.2.NBT.3Read and write numbers to 1,000 as numerals, words and expanded form.2.NBT.4Compare two three-digit numbers with >, = and <.
Comes Next2.NBT.7Add and subtract within 1,000 by working with hundreds, tens and ones.3.NBT.1Round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.4.NBT.1A digit is worth ten times the same digit to its right.

Practice 2.NBT.1

Math Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolThree-digit place value practice at the 2nd grade level, with an answer key: name the hundreds, tens and ones, or write the number from its parts.Grade 2Place valueAnswer key
Make a Worksheet

Quick Check

  1. How many hundreds, tens and ones are in 582?
  2. Write the number that has 9 hundreds, 0 tens and 4 ones.
  3. Ms. Park has 6 boxes of 100 crayons and 3 loose crayons. How many crayons does she have?

2.NBT.1: Other Names

2.NBT.12.NBT.A.1CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.1

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.