Massachusetts Standards
Massachusetts 1st Grade Math Standards
All 22 Massachusetts math standards for 1st grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
22 standards
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
8 standards1.OA.A.1
Solve add-to, take-from, put-together, take-apart, and compare word problems within 20 with the unknown in any spot, using objects, drawings, or equations with a symbol.
1.OA.A.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.
1.OA.B.3
Use number properties to add, like knowing 3 + 8 = 11 once 8 + 3 is known, making a ten in 2 + 6 + 4, or seeing that adding zero changes nothing.
1.OA.B.4
Turn a subtraction problem into a missing-number addition, like finding 10 - 8 by asking what added to 8 makes 10.
1.OA.C.5
Use counting to add and subtract, like counting on two more to add 2 or counting back two to take away 2.
1.OA.C.6
Add and subtract within 20, knowing facts within 10 quickly, with mental strategies like counting on, making ten, related facts, or 6 + 7 as 6 + 6 + 1.
1.OA.D.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.
1.OA.D.8
Find the missing number in an addition or subtraction equation with three numbers, like 8 + ? = 11 or 5 = ? - 3.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
6 standards1.NBT.A.1
Count to 120 starting from any number, and read, write and match numerals in that range to groups of objects.
1.NBT.B.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.
1.NBT.B.3
Compare two two-digit numbers by looking at their tens first, then their ones, and record the answer with >, = or <.
1.NBT.C.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.
1.NBT.C.5
Find 10 more or 10 less than a two-digit number mentally without counting, explain how, and spot the place value patterns when adding or taking away 10.
1.NBT.C.6
Subtract tens from tens within 90, like 70 - 30 = 40, using models, drawings or place value, and explain the thinking.
Measurement and Data
5 standards1.MD.A.1
Put three objects in order from shortest to longest, and compare two objects by measuring each against a third one.
1.MD.A.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.
1.MD.B.3
Tell and write the time to the hour and half-hour on both clock faces and digital clocks.
1.MD.C.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.
1.MD.D.5
Name the value of every U.S. coin, compare them, find equal amounts like five pennies for a nickel, write cents with ¢, and solve coin problems up to 100¢.
Geometry
3 standards1.G.A.1
Separate the features that define a shape, like a triangle's three closed sides, from ones that do not, like color or size, and build and draw shapes with them.
1.G.A.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.
1.G.A.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.
The official Massachusetts documents
- Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics, Pre-K to 12, 2017 · adopted March 2017 · current for 2026-27
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Massachusetts's standards, not the official wording, which Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.