Discussing Subtraction Strategies

Fourth Grade Math, ESL

Get your students comfortable with discussing multiple strategies to solve subtraction problems with this lesson
on two- and three-digit subtraction. It may be taught independently or as support for the lesson Subtraction with
Regrouping.

Objectives

Objectives

Academic

Students will be able to use two different strategies to subtract two- and three-digit numbers.

Language

Students will be able to discuss and compare subtraction strategies using peer support and sentence starters.

Materials and preparation Vocabulary

Half a class set of Frayer Model

Teacher copy of Vocabulary Cards TIER 2
Glossary (optional)
Document camera compare: consider how things are the same
Class set of copy paper
Class set of whiteboards and markers difference: the result of subtracting one number from
Teacher copy of Teach Background Knowledge the other
Template
solution: a way to solve a problem
Teacher copy of Write Student-Facing Language
Objectives Reference strategy: the plan of action to solve a problem

TIER 3

expanded notation : writing a number to show the

value of each digit

regrouping: the process of making groups of tens

when adding and subtracting

standard algorithm: a common way to solve math

problems, such as regrouping when adding or
subtracting

subtraction: the process of finding the difference in

amount between two numbers

Attachments

Graphic Organizer Template: Frayer Model (PDF)

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
 Vocabulary Cards: Discussing Subtraction Strategies (PDF)
Glossary: Discussing Subtraction Strategies (PDF)
Teach Background Knowledge Template (PDF)
Write Student-Facing Language Objectives Reference (PDF)

Math language routine

Collect and Display

Introduction (3 minutes)

Read aloud a subtraction word problem such as the following: "Mabel and her friends made 127
bracelets. They sold 98 of them. How many bracelets do they have left?"
Lead students in a think-pair-share and have them talk about the information presented in the problem
and strategies they might use to solve it. Give students time to reflect independently on the problem
before assigning them a partner and having them talk to their partner about the problem.
Invite students to share what they said or what their partner commented on in the lesson. Record their
ideas on a piece of chart paper and leave it up for the remainder of the lesson. Validate their responses
to the problem as they arise.
Tell students that today they will learn two strategies to solve two- or three-digit subtraction problems
and compare their strategies with their partners work.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (10 minutes)

Explain to students that they will learn or improve their understanding of some vocabulary words related
to the lesson. Tell them that they may already know the meaning of some of the terms but by spending
time making meaning of them, their understanding will deepen and will help them to become stronger
mathematicians.
Introduce each vocabulary word by displaying the Vocabulary Cards. Leave the cards displayed for the
rest of the lesson. Read each word and its definition. On the document camera, show students how to
complete a Frayer Model using the word solution. Read aloud the definition, draw a picture or model to
further make meaning of the word, and provide examples/non-examples to students.
Place students into partnerships. Give each pair a blank Frayer Model. Assign one of the remaining
vocabulary words to each pair of students. Note: you may have to repeat words. Instruct them to fill out
each section of the model collaboratively, meaning they should discuss the image, example, and non-
example they add to the model. Tell students that they should copy the definition from the Vocabulary
Cards onto their Frayer Model. Make sure that each student participates in the work equally.
Have each pair of students present their completed model briefly to the whole group. After the
presentations are complete, read aloud each vocabulary term and have students show you a thumbs-up
if they feel that they have a strong understanding of the word, a thumb to the side if they feel they
somewhat understand it, and a thumbs-down if they do not understand the term. Encourage students to
be honest in their self-assessment of the vocabulary terms. Note which students may need vocabulary
support throughout the lesson.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

Tell students that today there are two subtraction strategies that they will learn. One is called Expanded
Notation and the other is called the Standard Algorithm. Note: students should have some familiarity with
these terms after the Frayer Model activity.
Show students on a piece of chart paper an example of how to solve a three-digit subtraction problem
using both strategies (e.g., "There are 382 students in our school. 137 take the bus to school. How many
students do not take the bus?"). Read aloud the problem and demonstrate how to solve it.
Expanded Notation Subtraction (breaking apart numbers based on their place value and
subtracting each part of the number). First, 382 becomes 300 + 80 + 2 and 137 becomes 100 +
30 + 7. Then, we subtract the ones, the tens, followed by the hundreds. Emphasize the regrouping
required in the ones section. Finally, we add the three differences we found in each place value to
find the total difference.
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
 Standard Algorithm Subtraction (lining up the two numbers on top of each other and then
subtracting from right to left, with regrouping as necessary): 382 - 137 = 245. First, I subtract the
ones, the tens, and then the hundreds.
Have students turn to their partner and compare the two strategies used to subtract. Ask the following
questions and provide the sentence starters as an aid to help them compare.
How are the two strategies similar? ("The strategies are similar in that they both...")
How are the two strategies different? ("The expanded notation strategy is... while the standard
algorithm strategy is...")
Invite students to share their discussion with the whole class and document their observations on another
piece of chart paper.
Distribute a piece of blank copy paper to each student and have them fold it in half (hamburger style).
Inform them that they will solve a subtraction problem using both strategies, one on each side of the
paper. Tell students to make sure they label both types of methods on their paper.
Show students the following problem and read it aloud (define any unfamiliar term as needed): "Samir
has been saving all year to buy a new bicycle. He was able to save $447. He decided to buy a bicycle that
cost $339. How much money does he still have left after he bought the bicycle?"
Circulate to make sure students are using both strategies and working together with their partner.
Ask one pair of students to come up to the document camera to share their two strategies for solving the
problem. Provide them with transition words to help them share out ("First, we... Then, we... After that,
we... Finally, we...").
Ask students if anyone has another strategy they think would work well for this problem. Invite students
to share any additional subtraction strategies and document their responses (ideas include drawing a
base-ten model, breaking the number into friendlier numbers, etc.). Acknowledge other strategies and
point out the value of having a tool box with ample methods of solving the same problem so that we
become confident and flexible math thinkers.

Group work time (10 minutes)

Facilitate a Number Talk activity for students. Place students into A–B partnerships. Tell students that
Partner A will solve the problem using the Expanded Notation strategy while Partner B will solve the same
problem using the Standard Algorithm. Read aloud and display this problem: "Michelle collects stamps.
She has 563 stamps from around the world. She decides to donate 269 of them to a museum. How many
stamps does Michelle have left?"
Hand out whiteboards and markers to each student. Have them solve the problem using their assigned
strategy on the whiteboards.
Have the pairs share their strategies and answers with each other, and discuss any challenges they
encountered. Provide the transition words mentioned earlier. Ask students to share their processes with
the whole group and jot down their observations on a piece of chart paper.
Give students another problem and have them switch strategies (i.e., Partner A now uses the Standard
Algorithm and Partner B will use the Expanded Notation strategy): "The orchard has 786 trees. 339 of
them are apple trees and the rest are peach trees. How many peach trees are there in the orchard?"
Allow time for students to complete the subtraction problem on their whiteboards. Repeat the process of
sharing and comparing their strategies and answers. Give students access to the questions and sentence
starters used in the Guided Practice. Circulate and correct any mistakes. Continue to record students'
observations.
Hold a class discussion about their preferences for the various strategies. Give sentence frames as
support:
"I prefer the ____ strategy because..."
"I dislike the ____ strategy because..."
"I find the ____ strategy easiest because..."

Additional EL adaptations

Beginning

Let students restate key learning points throughout the lesson.

Allow students to use the Vocabulary Cards and/or Glossary as a reference at their desk.
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
 Place beginning students with a supportive partner, preferably one who speaks the same home language
(L1).
Simplify the linguistic load of the word problems.
Ask students to state the step-by-step method of each strategy using their L1 or L2.
Allow students to do the assessment with a supportive partner.

Advanced

Let students discuss the subtraction strategies without the support of the sentence stems/frames.
Tell students to repeat or rephrase the directions of each section of the lesson.
Encourage students to be the first ones in the group to explain other subtraction strategies they use.

Assessment (4 minutes)

Pass out a sticky note to each student. Give students the problem 566 - 289 = ? and have them solve it
using the strategy of their choice on the sticky note.
Invite some students to share the strategy they chose for the assessment problem and then demonstrate
how they solved it.
Have them place their sticky note on a piece of chart paper as they exit the classroom. You can use the
sticky notes to compare students' preferences for each strategy.

Review and closing (3 minutes)

Ask students to think of other operations for which they know multiple methods or strategies to solve.
Have them name a few strategies that they know (e.g., arrays and repeated addition for multiplication,
number lines for addition, etc.).
Remind students about the importance of knowing multiple strategies to solve the same problem.
Knowing different ways to get to the same answer helps students check their work to make sure it is
correct. Being confident in multiple math strategies makes them strong mathematicians too.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: ______________________________

Frayer Model
Directions: Write your vocabulary word in the “Vocabulary Term” oval. Complete the rest of the
sections for the vocabulary term in your own words.

Definition: Sentence:

Vocabulary Term:

Examples: Non-Examples:

Image Representation:

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
Copyright © 2018 Education.com LLC All Rights Reserved
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: discussing subtraction strategies

compare difference

consider how things the result of subtracting one

are the same number from the other

expanded notation regrouping

Tens Ones
453 = 400 + 5 0 + 3 +
28
15
43

the process of making groups

writing a number to show of tens when
the value of each digit adding and subtracting

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
© 2007©
- 2019
2007Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: discussing subtraction strategies

solution standard algorithm

1 1
7594
+ 4128
11,722
a common way to solve math
a way to solve a problem problems, such as regrouping
when adding or subtracting

strategy subtraction
x
x x x
x
x x x x x
0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 x

the process of finding the

the plan of action to difference in amount
solve a problem between two numbers

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
© 2007©
- 2019
2007Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
 Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Discussing Subtraction Strategies

Word Definition Visual

consider how things

compare are the same

difference the result of subtracting one

number from the other

writing a number to show

expanded notation the value of each digit 453 = 400 + 5 0 + 3

Tens Ones
the process of making
28
regrouping groups of tens when +
15
adding and subtracting 43

solution a way to solve a problem

a common way to solve

1 1

7594
math problems, such as
standard algorithm regrouping when + 4128
adding or subtracting 11,722

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find
Find worksheets,
worksheets,games,
games,lessons & more
lessons at education.com/resources
& more at education.com/resources
© 2007
©-2007
2019 Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
 Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Discussing Subtraction Strategies

Word Definition Visual

x
x x x

the plan of action to x

strategy
x x x x x
0
solve a problem 0 0 0
0
0 0
0 x

the process of finding the

subtraction difference in amount
between two numbers

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find
Find worksheets,
worksheets,games,
games,lessons & more
lessons at education.com/resources
& more at education.com/resources
© 2007
©-2007
2019 Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
 Teach Background Knowledge
Lesson Topic:
Choose a topic from the main content
lesson that will help ELs understand the
main content lesson. Your non-ELs will
already have knowledge about this topic.

Total Lesson Time:

(20 - 30 minutes)

Student-Facing Language
Objective:
Example: I can learn new vocabulary
using pictures and sentence frames.

Student ELP Level(s):

Consider each student’s ELP level and
their academic strengths when choosing
scaffolds for the lesson.

Groupings (pairs, small-groups, a teacher-led group)

Potential Scaffolds:
Choose some of these material supports
and instructional scaffolds based on each
EL’s individual strengths and needs.
Word banks, word wall, and bilingual glossaries
Sentence frames, sentence stems, and paragraph frames
Home language materials
Reduced linguistic load, repetition, rephrasing and modeling
Practice new academic skills with familiar topics

Materials & Resources List

List the materials you’ll use in the lesson.

Key Vocabulary Words (5-8 words)

List the words with student-friendly
definitions in English. Provide
definitions in student’s home language
when appropriate.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Copyright © 2018 Education.com LLC All Rights Reserved
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons
More worksheets & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007©
- 2019
2007Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
Introduction
Access EL’s prior knowledge about the
lesson topic with a brief comprehension
check.

Potential activities:
Creating captions for images
Opinionnaires
Carousel brainstorming
Conversations with sentence starters
Time estimate for Introduction
(3 - 5 minutes)

Explicit Instruction of
Background Knowledge
Model a learning activity that embeds
the teaching of academic language and
background knowledge.

Potential activities:
Lunch brunch discussion
Teacher-created, adjusted text and
questions
Brief videos or visuals
Text-based instruction
Home-language connections
Pre-teach a small number of
vocabulary words
Show real-world objects
Complete word family or bilingual
glossaries
Word walls or word bank creation

Time Estimate for Explicit Instruction

(4 - 6 minutes)

Guided Practice
Provide an opportunity for students (in
pairs or small groups) to practice the skill
or information taught during Explicit
Instruction, offering appropriate
scaffolds as needed.

Time Estimate for Guided Practice

(5 - 7 minutes)
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games,
Copyright 2018&Education.com
more
© lessons & at education.com/resources
more atAll
LLC education.com/resources
Rights Reserved
More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007© - 2019
2007Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
 Formative Assessment
Ask students to show comprehension of
new background knowledge and
associated skills through an oral or
written task. Provide appropriate
scaffolds dependent on their ELP level.

Potential assessments:
Act out concepts
Hands on tasks
Drawings, models, or graphs
Graphic organizer completion
Captions of images
Reading response or content
area logs
Retellings
Role plays
Audio or video recordings
Oral interviews

Time estimate for Assessment

(5 - 7 minutes)

Review and Closing

Refer to the student objective and relate
information to future lessons. Allow
students to share thoughts about
whether they reached their objective
and/or mention lingering questions.
Provide sentence stems or frames for their
discussion.

Time estimate for Review and Closing

(3 - 5 minutes)

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Copyright © 2018 Education.com LLC All Rights Reserved
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons
More worksheets & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007©
- 2019
2007Education.com
- 2021 Education.com
 Write Student-Facing Language Objectives
A student-facing language objective: A teacher-facing language objective:
begins with “I can...” begins with “Students will be able to...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development. promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds. supports or scaffolds.
is easy to understand for students at all levels of is intended to guide the teacher’s lesson planning
English proficiency. and instruction.

Steps to convert a teacher-facing objective to a student-facing objective:

1. Replace “Students will be able to” with “I can.”
2. Simplify challenging words but maintain key vocabulary words you’ll address in the lesson.

Students will be able to describe a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

I can talk about a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.

Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

Language Functions Grammar Structures Supports/Scaffolds

locate create identify nouns adverbs graphic organizers sentence starters

show describe infer modals academic vocabulary teacher modeling strategic grouping
sort ask questions interpret verb forms adjectives word banks/walls home language supports
tell brainstorm collect conjunctions phrases
contrast classify compare sentence structure prepositions
pronouns complex sentences
comparatives
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets,
Find worksheets, games,
games,
Copyright lessons
lessons
© 2018 & more
Education.com & All
LLC more
at at education.com/resources
education.com/resources
Rights Reserved
More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
©-2007
© 2007 - 2021 Education.com
2019 Education.com