K.OA.4: Find the Partner That Makes 10
Also written as K.OA.A.4 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.OA.A.4 · Cluster: Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from.
The Official Wording
For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a drawing or equation.
Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Operations & Algebraic Thinking · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What K.OA.4 Means in Plain English
Kindergartners hear a number from 1 to 9 and find its partner to 10. Give them 7 and they fill seven squares of a ten frame, count the three empty ones, and write 7 + 3 = 10. By spring the five pairs are familiar.
Ten is the number the system is built on, so its partners get their own standard. They drive the make-a-ten strategy in 1st grade, where 8 + 6 becomes 8 + 2 + 4 (1.OA.6), and the view of 10 - 8 as “what goes with 8?” (1.OA.4).
K.OA.4 I Can Statements
- I can find the number that goes with 7 to make 10.
- I can use a ten frame to find the missing part.
- I can write an equation like 7 + 3 = 10.
K.OA.4 Worked Example
Seven on a ten frame, with the empty squares doing the work, then the pair recorded as an equation.
The number is 7. Find the number that makes 10 when added to 7.
- Fill a ten frame from the top left: one counter per square, seven counters.top row 5 full, bottom row 2 full
- Look at the empty squares. Those are what is missing to make 10.3 empty squares
- Count on from 7 to 10 to double-check: 8, 9, 10. Three numbers.7 ... 8, 9, 10
- Record it: a drawing of the frame, or the equation.7 + 3 = 10
Check it: Fill the three empty squares with counters of another color. The frame is full, and 7 and 3 together are 10.
Common Mistakes with K.OA.4
Counting the counters instead of the gaps
Asked what goes with 7, the child counts the seven counters again and says 7
Try this: Turn the question around: point at the empty squares and ask how many more counters the frame needs.
Partners of 10 drift to partners of 9 or 11
7 + 4 = 10, or 6 and 3 offered as a pair that makes 10
Try this: Check every pair on the frame: ten means the frame is exactly full, no gaps and no counters left over.
Forgetting the pair runs both ways
Knows 7 + 3 = 10 but freezes at 3 + ? = 10
Try this: Flip the ten frame upside down after each answer so the three show on top, and read the pair again.
Where K.OA.4 Fits
Practice K.OA.4
Quick Check
- What number goes with 6 to make 10?
- Fill in the missing number: 2 + ? = 10.
- Mia needs 10 stickers to fill her chart. She has 9. How many more does she need?