Solving Subtraction Number Stories- Writing the Answer Day 2
Lesson 5 of 19
Objective: Students will be able to solve subtraction word problems using objects and write a numeral for the solution.
Problem of the Day
I start each math lesson with a Problem of the Day. I use the procedures outlined here on Problem of the Day Procedures.
Today's Problem of the Day:
There were 5 apples on the table. Zack ate 2 of them. How many apples were left?
I set this problem up with some structure to help the students organize their thinking. I give a blank line to remind the students to write their answer. If you do not have a SMART Board, you can use the PDF and have the students draw pictures or use manipulatives.
Since we do this whole group, I have one students come up and do this problem. I remind students to check their work when they are finished and have the class tell if they agree or disagree by showing a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Presentation of Lesson
This lesson is almost exactly the same as Day 1 with the exception of different word problems. I like to take two days to work on this so that students are able to get a lot of practice and experience with writing the answer to a problem before we get into the symbols that are associated with subtraction. During this lesson, I work through the problems a little more quickly and try to give the students more time to work on their centers.
Today we are going to work on word problems in a very similar way that we did yesterday. We are going to again use the cubes to answer the question at the end of each story. While I tell you the story, you are going to use the cubes to show what is happening in the story. When we solve these kinds of problems, we usually don't just tell someone the answer, we write it down so that we remember it and other people can look at it. Today you are going to record the answer to our word problems on your paper.
I give each students a Word Problems Worksheet. I follow our Paper Procedures to distribute the papers. I also hand each student a cube train containing 10 cubes. I tell students that when they get back to their seats they need to take the cubes apart and lay them beside their paper. When they have done that and put their name on their paper, then put their hands on their head.
I say the following word problems aloud. As I say them, I model on my mat using the cubes and have the students model the problem on their mats. I ask for a student to orally give me the answer by raising a quiet hand. We then write down the answer on the line. I still want the students to focus on listening to the problem and using the cubes to find the answer, but I want them to start to get used writing the answer to a word problem. The process is just as important as whether the students get the correct answer. The students need to use several of the mathematical practices to do this. They need to make sense of the problem and engage in finding the answer (MP1). They need to use the cubes to model the problem (MP4), and they need to use the cubes as math tools (MP5). At this level, cubes and other manipulatives are math tools that students need to learn to use appropriately to solve problems. See example here.
Jaiden has five birthday presents. He opens two of them. How presents does he have left?
Eight girls are in the library. Four of them go to lunch. How many girls are still in the library?
Cathy brings six jump ropes to recess. She gives three of them to her friends. How many jump ropes does she have now?
Ten ladybugs are sitting on a leaf. Four fly away. How many ladybugs are still on the leaf?
When we are finished, I ask each student to put their cubes back together into a train. They need to count and make sure that they have 10. They then need to make a pile of papers and cube trains in the middle of their table. I select one student to collect the papers and another student to collect the cube trains. When students are finished I call one representative from each table to come back and get the center for their table. All students start their center at the same time today.
The centers for this week are:
- Addition Word Problems (I used a Lakeshore Read and Solve Word Problems Center. You can also use these Addition Word Problem Cards that I made.)
- Easter Egg Addition (Available free from Teachers Pay Teachers)
- Goldfish Graphing (Available free from Teachers Pay Teachers)
- Piggy Bank Addition Mat (Available free from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten)
- Sweater Math Match-Up (Available free from Teachers Pay Teachers)
I quickly circulate to make sure students are engaged and do not have any questions about how to complete the centers. Because of the trouble during our addition unit, I decided not to introduce any subtraction centers this early in the subtraction unit.
I pull 3 groups (5-10 minutes depending on need). We do an activity similar to the whole group activity. I have the students use bears and fruit counters instead of cubes to show that we can use a variety of manipulatives to represent the information in a number story.
Prior to clean up, I check in with the other tables to see how the centers are going. My students have been struggling with getting cleaned up quickly and quietly after centers. Lately I have been using counting down from 20 slowly instead of a clean up song. Counting backwards is as critical as counting up. Students need to be able to know the number that comes before, as well as after, any given number (w/i 10, w/i 20, etc.). Counting back is a critical strategy for subtraction.
The students like to count backwards with me as they clean up and I can lengthen or reduce the clean up time based on how students are doing and how much time we have.
To close, I one student's paper on the document camera a project it on the SMART Board and have that student show a subtraction word problem and explain their work. I mention positive things noticed during centers as well as something that needs to be better next time.I review what we did during our whole group lesson. "Today we learned about solving problems that come from a story. These are called word problems. We also continued writing the answers to these problems. Tomorrow we will be looking at the symbol that we use to represent subtraction."