Teaching subtraction to young students who are just starting to explore the basics of math can be overwhelming. It is important to make sure that teachers are using a variety of teaching methods and out-of-the-box activities to help children understand this concept better. One such effective technique to teach subtraction is by counting back, which is a visual and interactive method that can help kids understand the idea, process, and significance of subtraction.
Activities to teach students to subtract by counting back can be both fun and exciting, making the experience memorable for children. Here are some exciting activities that teachers can use to help their students understand subtraction concepts by counting back up to 20.
1. Fish Bowl Activity
This activity is perfect for young students who are just starting to learn subtraction. It involves two bowls of fish, one bowl with, let’s say, ten fish and the second bowl with no fish.
The teacher will start by asking the students how many fish are in the first bowl, and the students will count the fish together. The teacher will then explain that they will remove some fish from the bowl and put them in the other bowl, and the students will count how many fish remain in the first bowl.
The teacher will continue this process, and the students will count back the number of fish that have been removed from the first bowl to calculate the remaining fish. This way, students will easily grasp the idea of counting back to subtract.
2. Number Line Activity
Young students enjoy interactive activities. To teach subtraction better, teachers can create a number line on the floor, and students will stand on it. The teacher will choose two numbers, let’s say 10 and 5.
The teacher will explain that they are going to jump back from ten to five and count how many jumps they need to take to reach five. Students will take a step back with each count, and when they land on five, they will count the number of steps taken to reach there. This activity allows children to learn and apply subtraction concepts by visualizing the number relationship and subtly subtracting.
3. Flower Garden Activity
This activity uses scenarios that engage students in a playful way while teaching them subtraction. Teachers can create a garden with different flowers that have a designated value, let’s say we choose daisies as the flower with the value of 5, and there are ten daisies in the garden, and we also have potted flowers as counters.
The teacher will begin with asking the students how many flowers are in the garden and pick up a pot, inviting the student to remove the number of flowers they wish to subtract. They will count the remaining daises after the subtraction, allowing students to understand that they counted back to subtract the flowers.
4. Pirate Subtraction Activity
Who doesn’t like pirates? This fun pirate thematic activity uses playful scenarios to teach subtraction. The teacher will tell the classroom a story of a pirate ship and how much treasure was lost or stolen, let’s say 6 gold coins.
Teachers can use manipulatives such as golden plastic coins or paper cutouts to visualize the gold coins. Then the teacher will ask the students how much treasure is left after the pirate took six coins and encourage the students to start counting from 20 to reach the answer of 14. By using a fun and playful story, students will engage with the lesson content and learn subtraction equations by counting back from a given number.
In conclusion, teaching young students subtraction can be made more accessible and effective if we use various techniques that focus on counting back. Activities, such as the fishbowl game, the number line activity, flower garden activity, and pirate subtraction activity, are interactive and playful ways to teach children how to subtract when counting back. By using these activities, students will learn and retain lesson information and develop a basis to move to more complex mathematical concepts like addition, multiplication, and division.
