Subtracting Within 10
Part of the Math for Young Minds curriculum — designed for neurodivergent students, grounded in real-world examples.
📋 Session plan (for teachers)
Session 2 — Subtracting within 10
Grade 1 · Math for Young Minds Total time: ~18 minutes Common Core: 1.OA.C.6 Today's idea: When some are taken away, we subtract to find how many are left.
What students will be able to do
By the end of this session, the student can:
- Subtract a smaller number from any number up to 10.
- See that subtraction and addition go together (8 − 3 = 5 because 5 + 3 = 8).
- Notice that subtracting 0 changes nothing.
Materials
- 10 counters per pair — paper "cookies", cereal pieces, or cubes
- A small paper plate per pair
- Worksheet (one per student)
- Pencil
Substitution: No counters? Use anything you have 10 of: buttons, beans, pasta, blocks. Paper circles drawn on scrap work great as pretend cookies.
New words
| Word | Meaning we use in class |
|---|---|
| difference | The answer to a subtraction problem. |
| fact family | The addition and subtraction sentences that go together. |
That's the whole vocabulary today. No other terms.
Heads-up — common confusions
- Trying to take away more than is there. A child may try "3 − 5". For now, the bigger number goes first. Totals stay at 0 or above.
- Forgetting that 7 − 0 = 7. If you take away nothing, nothing changes. Say this out loud.
- Not seeing the link to addition. 8 − 3 = 5 because 5 + 3 = 8. Show the same counters two ways — pulled apart, then put back together.
- Counting the eaten ones. Some kids count every cookie, including the ones taken away. Slow them down. "Only count what is left on the plate."
Plan
1 · Hello & today's idea — 2 min
"Today we're going to subtract. Subtracting means some go away, and we find how many are left."
Put 5 paper cookies on a plate. Take 2 away.
"Five cookies. I eat two. How many are left?"
Point at the plate. Count what's left: "One, two, three. Three are left. The difference is three."
2 · Hands-on explore — 6 min
Give each pair 10 counters and a plate.
Problem 1 (together):
"Put 8 cookies on your plate. Now eat 3 — move them off the plate. How many are left?"
Walk around. Watch for:
- Counting only what is left on the plate.
- Saying the answer out loud: 5.
"Yes — 8 − 3 = 5. Five is the difference."
Now slide the 3 eaten cookies back next to the 5.
"Look — 5 and 3 together makes 8 again. Subtracting and adding go together."
Problem 2 (solo):
"Now try this one with your counters. What is 9 − 4?"
Wait. Walk around. Help kids put 9 on the plate, take 4 off, count what's left.
"How many left? 5. So 9 − 4 = 5."
Problem 3 (solo):
"One more. What is 7 − 0?"
Pause. Watch faces.
"Put 7 on the plate. Take zero away. How many are left?"
"Seven! Taking away nothing changes nothing. 7 − 0 = 7."
3 · Connect to the math — 3 min
At the board, write: 4 + 5 = 9
"This is an addition sentence. Four and five make nine."
Now write: 9 − 4 = 5
"And this is a subtraction sentence. Nine, take away four, leaves five."
Point at both.
"These two go together. They are a fact family — the same three numbers, just arranged different ways."
Show 9 counters. Split them into 4 and 5. Push them together. Pull them apart.
"Same numbers. Same family."
4 · Practice with support — 5 min
Pass out the worksheet.
Stretch problem (together at the board):
"Here's a tricky one. Write the fact family for 4 + 5 = 9. There are four sentences!"
Work through it slowly. Write each one as students call it out:
- 4 + 5 = 9
- 5 + 4 = 9
- 9 − 4 = 5
- 9 − 5 = 4
"Same three numbers — 4, 5, and 9 — every time. That's a fact family."
Let students finish the worksheet with a neighbor. Kneel next to anyone stuck. Put counters back in their hands.
5 · What we did + Try at home — 2 min
"Today you learned to subtract. You found the difference. And you saw that adding and subtracting are a fact family — they go together."
Hold up 6 fingers. Fold 2 down.
"Six, take away two. How many? Four. You did it."
Wave the family guide.
"Tonight at snack time, try it. Start with a small pile — maybe 7 grapes, eat 2. Or 6 crackers, share 3 with a sibling. Or 5 toys, put 1 away. Say how many are left."
Observation rubric — what to notice in this session
Use this during the session. One observation per student is plenty.
| Where the student is | What you'd see |
|---|---|
| Developing | Counts every counter, including the ones taken away. May try to take away more than is there. Needs your hand to guide. |
| Using | Counts only what is left. Says the difference. Gets 7 − 0 = 7 without confusion. |
| Extending | Writes a fact family without help. Notices that 8 − 3 = 5 because 5 + 3 = 8, without being told. |
No fail state. "Developing" today is "using" next week.
What's next (Session 3)
In Session 3 — Place value: tens and ones, we look at how a 2-digit number like 47 is really 4 tens and 7 ones. Same counting habit, bigger numbers, grouped in tens.
✏️ Worksheet (for students)
Math for Young Minds · Grade 1
2 · Subtracting within 10
[ Hello ] → [ Explore ] → [ Connect ] → [ Practice ← we are here ] → [ Try at home ]
My name: _____________________________
Today
When some go away, count what is left. That is the difference.
Problem 1 — together
🍪 cookies on a plate. You eat some. How many are left?
Start with 8 cookies:
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
You eat 3. Cross them out with an X:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
➤ 8 − 3 = ? Circle the difference:
┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐
│ 3 │ │ 4 │ │ 5 │ │ 6 │ │ 7 │
└──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘
Problem 2 — on your own
What is 9 − 4?
Draw 9 dots. Cross out 4.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
➤ Circle the difference:
┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐
│ 3 │ │ 4 │ │ 5 │ │ 6 │ │ 7 │
└──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘
Problem 3 — on your own
What is 7 − 0?
Draw 7 things. Cross out zero.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
➤ Circle the difference:
┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐
│ 5 │ │ 6 │ │ 7 │ │ 8 │ │ 9 │
└──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘ └──────┘
Problem 4 — stretch
Write the fact family for 4 + 5 = 9.
Four sentences! Fill in the blanks:
4 + 5 = ____
5 + ____ = 9
9 − 4 = ____
9 − ____ = 4
Today's words
| word | what it means |
|---|---|
| difference | the answer to a subtraction problem |
| fact family | the + and − sentences that go together |
🏠 Try at home tonight
Start with a small pile of snacks. Take some away (eat or share). Say how many are left!
- 🍇 7 grapes — eat 2
- 🍪 6 crackers — share 3 with a sibling
- 🧸 5 toys — put 1 away
- ⭐ 8 stickers — give 4 to a friend
- 🥕 4 carrots — eat 1
Start with some. Take some away. How many are left?
🏠 Family guide (for parents)
Math for Young Minds · Grade 1 · Session 2
Tonight: take some snacks away, see what's left
What your child did today
In class today, we practiced subtracting numbers up to 10.
We used a small plate and some paper "cookies." We put a few on the plate, ate some (pretend!), and figured out how many were left.
The big idea: subtraction is what happens when you start with a group and some go away.
We also noticed something neat — addition and subtraction are two sides of the same story. If 5 + 3 = 8, then 8 − 3 has to be 5.
Why this matters
Subtraction is one of the first places kids learn that numbers can be taken apart, not just put together. When your child sees that 8 − 3 = 5 because 5 + 3 = 8, they're building the foundation for every math idea that comes later — fact fluency, place value, even algebra one day. We're not in a rush. Understanding comes before speed.
🏠 Try this tonight (1 minute)
Grab a small pile of snacks or small objects. Start with somewhere between 5 and 10.
| Easy starters |
|---|
| 7 grapes — eat 2 |
| 6 crackers — share 3 with a sibling |
| 5 toys — put 1 away |
| 8 stickers — give 4 to a friend |
The script:
"How many do we start with? Let's count. Now I'm going to take some away. How many are left?"
Let them count what's left on the plate. If they want to count again to be sure, that's fine.
One more thing to try, if there's time:
"What if I take zero away? How many are left now?"
(Yes — the same number. That surprises kids in a good way.)
Words your child is learning
- Difference — the answer to a subtraction problem (8 − 3 = 5, so 5 is the difference)
- Fact family — the four number sentences that go together, like 4 + 5 = 9, 5 + 4 = 9, 9 − 4 = 5, and 9 − 5 = 4
That's the whole list.
If your child says…
"This is easy."
Great. Ask them for the fact family — all four sentences. Start with 4 + 5 = 9 and see if they can find the other three. That's a real Grade 1 stretch.
"This is hard."
Totally normal. Slow down and use real objects they can touch. Start with smaller numbers — 5 take away 2, then 6 take away 1. The counters do the thinking until the symbols start to make sense. Speed comes later on its own.
"I don't want to."
That's okay. Try again tomorrow with a snack they love. Subtraction is easier to care about when the cookies are real.
A small heads-up
Two things often trip kids up at this stage, and both are normal:
- They may try to subtract a bigger number from a smaller one (like 3 − 8). For now, just say: "We can't do that one yet — let's flip it around."
- They may forget that 7 − 0 = 7. Taking nothing away really does leave everything there.
What's next
In Session 3, we'll start looking at place value — how a number like 47 is really "4 tens and 7 ones." It's the next big idea, and today's work sets us up perfectly.
Thanks for spending a minute at the table tonight. These small moments are where math lives.
— Math for Young Minds
🔑 Cheat sheet (visual)
🍪 Take away = subtract
The big idea
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
↓ eat 3 ↓
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 ❌ ❌ ❌
8 − 3 = 5
Start with some. Take some away. Count what's left.
How to read the sign
8 − 3 = 5
↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
start take what's
away left
(difference)
The difference is the answer.
Try it: 9 − 4
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
↓ eat 4 ↓
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
9 − 4 = 5
Try it: 7 − 0
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
↓ eat none ↓
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
7 − 0 = 7
Taking 0 away changes nothing. 🌟
👨👩👧👦 Fact family for 4, 5, 9
🍪🍪🍪🍪 + 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
4 + 5 = 9
5 + 4 = 9
9 − 4 = 5
9 − 5 = 4
Same three numbers. Four sentences. ➕➖ are partners!
The Big Rules
✅ Start big. Take away. Count what's left.
✅ The answer is the difference.
✅ n − 0 = n (take nothing → nothing changes)
✅ Stuck on 8 − 3? Think: "3 + ? = 8"
❌ Don't take away more than you started with.
❌ Don't forget: 7 − 0 = 7, not 0.
🧠 Try in your head
🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪
eat 2
6 − 2 = ?
. . .
↳ 4 🍪