Subtraction Teaching Resources
Browse subtraction worksheets, games and more teacher-created activities for your lesson plans!
Aligned with the Australian maths curriculum, including version 9.0, each resource in this subtraction collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our expert teachers to ensure it's ready to use with your students!
Browse printables and digital activities for teaching students how to take away, use subtraction to compare quantities, subtract two-digit numbers with regrouping, solve word problems and so much more!
Whether you're teaching your year 1 class to add and subtract within 20 or your year 3 students how to fluently subtract within 1,000, or you're explaining to a year 6 group how to add or subtract integers on a number line, there are plenty of options for your planning.
New to teaching subtraction, or just looking for new ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a kid-friendly definition to explain what it means to subtract, plus a look at the subtraction sign and more maths vocabulary that will help you plan your lessons.
What Is Subtraction? A Kid-Friendly Definition
If you're teaching early years students and introducing subtraction for the very first time, you may need a definition that can help you explain what it means to subtract numbers.
Subtraction is a maths operation we can use when we have a number and we want to find out what's left when we take away another number.
For example, let's imagine you have 5 toys, and your friend takes 2 of them home. How can you determine how many toys are left? You can use subtraction!
If you subtract 2 from the number 5, you are left with 3.
What Is the Subtraction Sign Called?
There are several maths symbols and signs that help us understand the relationships between numbers in our maths problems. Students should learn early on to identify the subtraction symbol, which is called the minus sign.
The minus sign (-) looks like a short line.
When it is placed between two numbers, it lets us know that we should subtract the number on the right from the number on the left.
For example, look at the subtraction problem below:
- 6-3
In this problem, the minus sign tells us that you will need to subtract — or take away — 3 from the number 6.
What Is the Answer to a Subtraction Problem Called?
Teaching maths in primary school involves teaching a significant amount of maths vocabulary!
When it comes to subtraction, one word kids need to learn early on is 'difference' — this is the word we use for the answer to a subtraction problem.
What Are the Numbers Called in Subtraction?
Words like subtraction, difference and minus are commonly used in the classroom, but what about the numbers in a subtraction problem?
These are not typically taught to students, but it can be helpful to keep the names of the numbers in a subtraction problem in your back pocket anyway!
- Minuend — This is the number on the left in a subtraction problem. It is the number that you are 'taking away' from.
- Subtrahend — This is the number on the right in a subtraction problem. It is the number that you are 'taking away.'
Teaching Kids How to Subtract — 3 Fun Ideas From Our Teacher Team
Looking for some tips on teaching subtraction? This collection of resources is full of ideas from our expert maths teachers, but we didn't stop there.
Here are some tips that may help you teach kids how to subtract and build their fluency!
1. Focus on Missing Addends
Missing addend addition is sometimes easier for kids to grasp when tackling subtraction problems.
For example, rather than 17 - 8, gear your students to think, '8 plus what equals 17?'
2. Teach Regrouping With Base-10 Blocks
Students need to understand they aren't changing the value of the minuend in the subtraction problem, just what it looks like. For example, 42 is still 42, even if it's represented as 30 + 12 instead of 40 + 2.
This is where it helps to teach the concept of regrouping using Base-10 or MAB blocks.
3. Use Subtraction Rhymes
Using fun rhymes as mnemonics in subtraction can help your student remember the rules. Here's one of our favourites for teaching students subtraction with regrouping:
More on top?
No need to stop!
More on the floor?
Go next door.
Add 10 more.
If the numbers are the same, then 0 is the name!
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Subtraction Strategies Puzzles
Practise identifying and using different subtraction strategies with a set of printable maths puzzles.
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The Mathematical Easter Egg Hunt – Whole Class Game
A differentiated whole class Easter egg hunt.
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Rearranging Parts Worksheet
Rearrange the parts of a sum to form new number sentences with this worksheet.
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Number Talks - Fluency to 20 Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Parts of a Number Sentence (Addition and Subtraction) Posters
Two posters to display in the classroom explaining the elements of addition and subtraction number sentences.
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Addition and Subtraction Strategies PowerPoints – Teaching Resource Pack
A collection of Teaching Presentations that explore strategies for the computation of addition and subtraction.
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Number Facts Board Games
A collection of board games to consolidate your students' knowledge of number facts.
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Maths Resource Packs for Parents - Addition and Subtraction
An extensive collection of resources for for parents to help Year 3 and Year 4 children with addition and subtraction.
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Think 'Addition' to Subtract
A 60-minute lesson in which students apply their knowledge of addition and subtraction as inverse operations to solve equations with missing addends.
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Exploring Subtraction Strategies Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit covers a range of mental computation strategies for subtraction.
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Frolic with Fact Families
A 60-minute lesson in which students explore the relationship between the members of fact families.
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Trade It!
A 60-minute lesson in which students learn how to trade when subtracting.
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Jump or Split
A 60-minute lesson in which students will learn the jump and skip strategies to subtract.
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Aim for a Zero-Tail
A 60-minute lesson in which students learn the strategy of making ten to subtract.
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What Do You Know?
A 60-minute lesson in which students will revise strategies such as counting on, counting back, subtracting 10, and using known number facts.
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Exploring Subtraction Strategies – Assessment
An assessment task in which students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of subtraction strategies.
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