North Carolina Standards
North Carolina 1st Grade Math Standards
All 23 North Carolina math standards for 1st grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's document, linked at the end of this page.
23 standards
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
8 standardsNC.1.OA.1
Solve story problems within 20 with a missing change, part or difference, using objects, drawings and equations like 8 + ? = 13.
NC.1.OA.2
Solve story problems that add three whole numbers totaling 20 or less, like 4 + 6 + 3 shells, with objects, drawings or an equation with a box for the answer.
NC.1.OA.3
Use the order and grouping properties to make addition easier, like adding 6 + 4 + 3 as 10 + 3, or 2 + 8 as 8 + 2.
NC.1.OA.4
Find a missing addend within 20 by adding on or by turning it into subtraction, like solving 9 + ? = 15 as 15 - 9.
NC.1.OA.9
Add and subtract within 10 with speed and accuracy, like answering 7 + 3 and 9 - 4 without counting on fingers.
NC.1.OA.6
Add and subtract within 20 using strategies like counting on, making ten, a number line or facts they know, like 6 + 7 as 6 + 6 + 1.
NC.1.OA.7
Use the meaning of the equal sign to decide if addition and subtraction equations are true, like 7 = 8 - 1 being true but 5 + 2 = 8 false.
NC.1.OA.8
Find the missing number in an addition or subtraction equation with three whole numbers, like 8 + ? = 11 or 5 = ? - 3.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
7 standardsNC.1.NBT.1
Count up to 150 starting from any number below 150, like counting on from 87 to 112.
NC.1.NBT.7
Read and write numbers to 100, and write the numeral for a counted group of up to 100 objects, like writing 47 for 47 beans.
NC.1.NBT.2
Explain that a two-digit number is made of tens and ones, bundling ten ones into a ten, seeing 11 to 19 as a ten plus ones and 30 as three tens.
NC.1.NBT.3
Decide which of two two-digit numbers is greater by comparing the tens and then the ones, and write the result with >, = or <, like 52 > 47.
NC.1.NBT.4
Add within 100, like 46 + 7 or 46 + 30, with models, drawings or place value strategies, and explain how they got the answer.
NC.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.
NC.1.NBT.6
Subtract tens from tens between 10 and 90, like 70 - 30, using models, number lines or place value, and explain the thinking.
Measurement and Data
5 standardsNC.1.MD.1
Put three objects in order from shortest to longest, and compare two objects by measuring each against a third one.
NC.1.MD.2
Measure length by lining up same-size items like paper clips, leaving no gaps or overlaps, and tell the length as a whole number of them.
NC.1.MD.3
Tell and write the time to the hour and half-hour on both clock faces and digital clocks.
NC.1.MD.5
Recognize quarters, dimes and nickels and tell how many pennies each one is worth, like a dime equaling 10 pennies.
NC.1.MD.4
Sort, show and read data in up to three categories, answering questions about the total, each category, and how many more or fewer one has.
Geometry
3 standardsNC.1.G.1
Tell defining traits like number of sides apart from traits like color, then draw or build flat shapes and build solids like prisms, cones and cylinders.
NC.1.G.2
Combine flat shapes like trapezoids and half-circles, or solids like cubes and cones, into a new shape, and name the parts used.
NC.1.G.3
Split circles and rectangles into 2 or 4 equal parts called halves and fourths, see the whole as all the parts, and know more parts means smaller ones.
The official North Carolina documents
- North Carolina K-12 Mathematics Standard Course of Study · adopted June 2017 · since 2018-19, through 2027-28
- North Carolina Standard Course of Study, K-8 Mathematics · adopted June 2017 · since 2018-19, through 2027-28
- 2026 K-12 Mathematics Standard Course of Study · coming next · adopted October 2026 · installation years 2026-27 and 2027-28
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of North Carolina's standards, not the official wording, which North Carolina Department of Public Instruction publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.