Common Core State Standards
1st Grade Math Standards
All 21 Common Core math standards for 1st grade, grouped into domains and written in plain English. The official wording is one click away. 5 have free practice you can print today.
21 standards
Operations & Algebraic Thinking OA
8 standardsRepresent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
1.OA.1
Solve addition and subtraction word problems within 20, about joining, taking away and comparing, with the unknown in any spot, like 7 + ? = 12.
Official wording
Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
1.OA.2
Solve word problems that add three numbers with a total of 20 or less, like 4 + 6 + 3 = 13, with objects, drawings or an equation.
Official wording
Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction.
1.OA.3
Use the rules of adding to make problems easier, like knowing 8 + 3 = 11 means 3 + 8 = 11, or adding 6 + 4 first to make a ten in 2 + 6 + 4.
Official wording
Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract. Examples: If 8 + 3 = 11 is known, then 3 + 8 = 11 is also known. (Commutative property of addition.) To add 2 + 6 + 4, the second two numbers can be added to make a ten, so 2 + 6 + 4 = 2 + 10 = 12. (Associative property of addition.)
1.OA.4
Turn a subtraction problem into a missing-number addition, like finding 10 - 8 by asking what added to 8 makes 10.
Official wording
Understand subtraction as an unknown-addend problem. For example, subtract 10 - 8 by finding the number that makes 10 when added to 8.
Add and subtract within 20.
1.OA.5
Use counting to add and subtract, like counting on two more to add 2 or counting back two to take away 2.
Official wording
Relate counting to addition and subtraction (e.g., by counting on 2 to add 2).
1.OA.6
Add and subtract within 20 with strategies like counting on and making ten, like 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4, and know the facts within 10 quickly and accurately.
Official wording
Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 - 4 = 13 - 3 - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 - 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13).
Work with addition and subtraction equations.
1.OA.7
Know that the equal sign means both sides are the same amount, and tell whether equations like 7 = 8 - 1 or 4 + 1 = 5 + 2 are true or false.
Official wording
Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false. For example, which of the following equations are true and which are false? 6 = 6, 7 = 8 - 1, 5 + 2 = 2 + 5, 4 + 1 = 5 + 2.
1.OA.8
Find the missing number in an addition or subtraction equation with three numbers, like 8 + ? = 11 or 5 = ? - 3.
Official wording
Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 + ? = 11, 5 = _ - 3, 6 + 6 = _.
Number & Operations in Base Ten NBT
6 standardsExtend the counting sequence.
1.NBT.1
Count to 120 starting from any number, and read, write and match numerals in that range to groups of objects.
Official wording
Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120. In this range, read and write numerals and represent a number of objects with a written numeral.
Understand place value.
1.NBT.2
Know that a two-digit number is made of tens and ones, like 10 is a bundle of ten ones, 14 is a ten and four ones, and 70 is seven tens.
Official wording
Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. Understand the following as special cases:a10 can be thought of as a bundle of ten ones — called a "ten."bThe numbers from 11 to 19 are composed of a ten and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine ones.cThe numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 refer to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine tens (and 0 ones).
1.NBT.3
Compare two two-digit numbers by looking at their tens first, then their ones, and record the answer with >, = or <.
Official wording
Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <.
Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.
1.NBT.4
Add within 100 with models and drawings, like 34 + 8 or 34 + 20, adding tens to tens and ones to ones, making a new ten when needed, and explain the steps.
Official wording
Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, and adding a two-digit number and a multiple of 10, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. Understand that in adding two-digit numbers, one adds tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten.
1.NBT.5
Find 10 more or 10 less than any two-digit number in their head, like 47 + 10 = 57, without counting, and explain how they know.
Official wording
Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used.
1.NBT.6
Subtract tens from tens within 90, like 70 - 30 = 40, using models, drawings or place value, and explain the thinking.
Official wording
Subtract multiples of 10 in the range 10-90 from multiples of 10 in the range 10-90 (positive or zero differences), using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.
Measurement & Data MD
4 standardsMeasure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units.
1.MD.1
Put three objects in order from shortest to longest, and compare two objects by measuring each against a third one.
Official wording
Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.
1.MD.2
Measure how long an object is by laying same-size units end to end with no gaps or overlaps, and give the length as a whole number, like 6 paper clips long.
Official wording
Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
Tell and write time.
1.MD.3
Tell and write the time to the hour and half-hour on both clock faces and digital clocks.
Official wording
Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
Represent and interpret data.
1.MD.4
Sort data into up to three groups, show it in a chart or picture, and answer how many in all, how many in each group, and how many more or fewer.
Official wording
Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.
Geometry G
3 standardsReason with shapes and their attributes.
1.G.1
Tell the features that make a shape what it is, like a triangle has three sides, from ones that do not, like color or size, and build and draw shapes to match.
Official wording
Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.
1.G.2
Put shapes together, like two triangles into a square or cubes into a tower, to make a new shape, and build again from the new shape.
Official wording
Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.
1.G.3
Split circles and rectangles into two or four equal shares, call them halves, fourths or quarters, and know that more shares means smaller shares.
Official wording
Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares.
1st Grade Practice
Worksheet generators and printables already set up for this grade’s standards, free to use.
1st Grade Math Standards: Questions
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 plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio’s own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.