Do you have students in third, fourth, or fifth grade that are struggling with subtraction? Chances are, they missed the concrete phase of modeling subtraction with regrouping.
This skill is extremely valuable as per the Mathematics Florida Standards, students in 3rd grade are required to, “Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.” Students in fourth grade are required to, “Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.” Students in 5th grade apply their knowledge of the subtraction algorithm when learning division strategies and extend their understanding of regrouping when working with fractions. If your students are struggling with these skills, they may need some additional time connecting the model to the algorithm.
Check out this quick video that connects the concrete model to the steps in the traditional algorithm.