The Sweet Shop Swap

Emily helped at Auntie’s sweet shop. Sweets were packed in tens, ten sweets made one stick. Loose sweets were ones.

A boy bought 27 sweets. A girl bought 15. “How many did we sell?” asked Auntie.

Emily put the ones together: 7 + 5 = 12. “But 12 ones is too many to leave loose!” she said. “Ten of them make one new stick.” She regrouped (swapped ten ones for one ten), carrying the ten across to the tens column.