Teaching Subtraction with Regrouping

Subtraction with regrouping is hard for some students to understand. Whether you teach the traditional algorithm with borrowing or not, there are some great ways to introduce the concept to your math students. Here are some fun activities and teaching resources I have found to be a great introduction to subtraction with regrouping!

First, we always start out by using real world examples and posing a problem that would create a mental image of borrowing a ten. I like to use the example of having a party and some extra guests arrive and you need more of something… It is usually a food example like cookies.

Kids get cookies! Yes, we send someone out to the store and get more! My special cookies come in packs of ten. One pack of ten is what we buy. Now we have enough to be eaten (or taken away). The store has one fewer, but we have ten more!

Books about Regrouping:

The Good Neighbors’ Cheese Feast: A Cheesy Mouse Tale of Subtraction with Regrouping, by Mark Ramsay, (The Good Neighbors Math Series) is a great story to begin a regrouping unit.

When The Good Neighbors decide to have a cheese feast, some of the mice discover that they do not have enough cheese to make their cheesy dishes. The Good Neighbors work together to solve their cheese shortage problem. The mice’s story models the subtraction with regrouping process as demonstrated with base ten blocks.

Story Summary

When The Good Neighbors decide to have a cheese feast, the mice discover that they do not have enough cheese to make their dishes. The mice’s story models the subtraction with regrouping process so the kids can visualize it and make the transfer later with base ten blocks.

Subtraction Mini-Book

We are spiraling concepts this year in math, so we introduce something and come back to that skill later and build on it. We started this portion of our intro to subtraction with regrouping using some super cute activities from Amy Lemons.

The class made little booklets and memorized the rhyming chants to help them remember when to regroup!

Check out this cute video for some dance moves to go with the poems!

More on the floor? Go next door and get ten more!

Introducing the Concept of Regrouping:

We tackle the concept of regrouping first with modeling using using base ten blocks or Unifix cubes. 

If you have a SMART Board, this is a great free visual from the SMART Exchange you can use for demonstrating while the kids model with base ten blocks at their desk.

After visually introducing the concept of place value holders and cubes, each student was given a tens and ones regrouping work mat and a set of base ten manipulatives at their seat.

Side note: Here’s a great tip I learned at a math workshop and it works wonders!

Whenever using manipulatives, let the students play with them for a minute with the understanding that afterward, they are MATH TOOLS! This really cuts down on reminders and keeps kids on task during the activity. 

Don’t have a class set of base ten blocks? You can get them on Amazon! ( affiliate link)

I laminated these work mats made from colored folders. To make mats for your class, just create a heading at the top of each column and draw a line down the crease to divide the work mat in half. Laminate them and they will last for years. I almost wish mine would fall apart so I can make them cuter! 

The Break Apart Model

 This Vimeo does a good job of showing the break apart (decomposing) concept.

Look for Practice Activities

Now that your students have a strong foundation for subtraction with regrouping, they’ll need regular practice with this skill. If you search TPT, you can find many great printable practice pages and learning activities for your classroom!

Subtraction with regrouping may still be a tough concept for some little learners but I hope you can use these ideas and resources to help your class breeze through this challenging math concept too!

How do you like to introduce regrouping? Feel free to leave an idea or link in the comments!

Thanks for sharing!