Math stations are well under way in my class. Prior to sending the students off to stations, I teach a mini-lesson. My mini-lesson focus this week is reviewing subtraction using counting back as a strategy. Subtraction seems to be one of the hardest concepts to teach.

For the first mini-lesson, the students created number lines from 1 to 20 using a sentence strip, crayons, and stickers to mark the numbers. Then I had the students practice counting backwards from 20 to 1. After, I asked the students to put their finger on a specific number and count back another specific number.

The next day, the number lines came back out. For this mini-lesson, I reviewed what it meant to subtract. I then modeled for the students how to use the number line for subtracting. I repeated the same exercise from the day before, but this time phrasing it is a subtraction equation. Then I had my students pair up and continue to practice using flashcards. 

Tomorrow, we will repeat this same activity. Then my students will put pencil to paper and practice counting back on a number line.

Here is the worksheet they will practice with. 

/sites/default/files//files/NUmber%20LIne%20Subtraction(1).pdf

The next mini-lesson, the students will use a large number line on the floor and practice counting back with flashcards. By the end of the week, we should be masters at counting back on a number line.