# Day 52 — Two fives make ten

**25 minutes · AC9MFN01 and AC9MFN04 (partial) · educator review pending**

**Success:** Child fills a five-by-two ten-frame with one counter per box, shows five in each row, and recognises the unchanged total ten when the rows are separated.

**Prepare:** ten counters, [ten-frame mat](ten-and-share.svg), two five-box strips made by covering or folding the frame between rows, numeral `10`, T04/T11 from [print aids](print-aids.md). Raised boxes or a plain-text grid are available.

1. **Retrieve, 3 min.** Count ten loose objects by moving them once. Ask, “Can we make the same ten easier to see?”
2. **Model, 5 min.** Place five across the top, then five across the bottom. Say, “This row has five. This row has five. Both rows together are ten. There is one counter in each box.” Slide the strips apart without adding objects; ask whether the whole changed.
3. **Build and play, 10 min.** Partners make T04 music and T11 science scenes. One starts with a scattered set of ten, the other fills the frame and separates the rows; then swap. Try top row complete and bottom row missing one: ask whether that is ten yet. Teacher asks three focus learners to show where a missing counter belongs.
4. **Fresh check, 4 min.** Show a new frame with top row five and bottom row four. Child adds the one missing counter or says it is nine before addition, then identifies the full frame as ten.
5. **Close, 3 min.** Children choose to show ten as two rows, ten loose objects or a numeral. **Key:** full frame 5 + 5 = 10; five plus four is nine, needs one more.

**If the child treats the two rows as two separate wholes:** Bring both strips inside a single whole boundary and count the same objects together. **Access and record:** A drawn or tactile two-row model replaces finger representation; allow guided placement and verbal direction. Record whether the child recognised five in each row, counted it, or needed the teacher to identify the groups.