Subtraction Counting-Back Activities
Subtraction counting-back activities offer children a method for learning the order of numbers. This leads to understanding the concept of subtraction as taking away and finding a smaller number, versus adding to and getting a larger digit. Kids can use devices such as number lines as hands-on references for counting back to solve subtraction problems. Implementing interactive games and activities for counting back enhances math by making subtraction entertaining for students.
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Number Line Counting
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Post a number line of positive integers in the front of your classroom. Conduct counting activities out loud while pointing with a pointer at the numbers as children recite them. This helps familiarize students with the forward and backward order of numbers.
Writing Subtraction Problems
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Show students how you start at 8 on the number line and move back three places to land on 5. Demonstrate how to write this as a subtraction problem, such as 8 - 3 = 5. Supply students with whiteboards and dry erase markers. Instruct them to use the numbers you point at to write a subtraction problem. Point to a number such as 6. Ask students to write down 6 and a subtraction symbol on their whiteboards. Move backward a certain amount of spaces, such as two, and have students write down 2 and an equal sign. Land on the 4 and ask students to write 4 as the answer. Continue walking them through each step until they can predict and write the problems on their own.
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Bunny Hop Game
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Place another number line in a common seating area such as a classroom carpet, and have students sit in a circle around the number line. Use a stuffed animal bunny as a prop, and place the bunny on a number such as 5. Formulate a subtraction problem such as "If the bunny hops two spaces backward, what number will he land on?" Call on a student to move the bunny backward to find an answer of 3. Relate the activity to the equation 5 - 3 = 2.
Crown King/Queen Answer
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Purchase a play crown. Write the numbers 0 through 20 on separate blank stickers. Place a sticker on each child in the classroom. Ask students to line up from least to greatest according to the number on their stickers. Create a challenge by having them get in order without talking. Write a subtraction problem on the board, such as 12 - 8. Ask the student numbered 12 to answer the problem by taking the students after him (numbers 11 through 7) out of the line. Tell the student to stop and crown the eighth person, in this case 4, to indicate she is the answer. The crowned person gets to solve the next problem.
Walk the Line
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Affix large number stickers, 1 through 20, to the floor of your classroom in order. Line students up in front of the number 20. Tell three students at a time to each stand on a different number as their starting point. Ask them all to move back a certain amount of spaces to find what their starting number minus the amount of spaces equals. Require each student to share his answer.
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References
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