K-5 friendly lesson
One small step at a time.Read the idea, try the activity, and celebrate each win as you go.

Use ten to subtract

Subtracting from ten is a breeze! 🌬️ Let’s use our friend Ten to solve tricky subtraction problems quickly and become subtraction wizards! πŸ§™β€β™‚οΈ

Do this: Read the concept below, then try the quiz or activity.

Lesson 17 of 186

Concept

This strategy is the reverse of 'make ten to add'. To subtract, we can break the problem down by first subtracting from a ten. This makes the math feel much simpler.

Visual: Let's solve 14 - 6. 1. Think of 14 as one group of ten and 4 ones. (Imagine one full ten-frame and 4 extra counters). 2. First, take away the 4 ones to get down to a nice, round 10. You've subtracted 4 so far. 3. You need to subtract 6 in total. Since you already subtracted 4, you need to subtract 2 more (because 6 = 4 + 2). 4. Now, just do 10 - 2. That's 8! 5. So, 14 - 6 = 8.

Key Idea: When you have a teen number, first subtract the 'ones' part to get to 10. Then, subtract the rest from 10. It breaks a big step into two small, easy steps.

Try it

Practice: Use ten to subtract.