Second Grade · Math · week 2

Fast facts to 20

Build fluency adding and subtracting within 20 using known strategies.

This week is about speed. You already know strategies like make-a-ten, doubles, and counting on. Now practice using them quickly so the facts start to feel automatic.

Subtraction facts within 20 use the same thinking. Think: what number plus this number equals the total?

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Time short practice bursts (1-2 minutes) rather than one long drill -- speed builds from many short tries.
  • When they get stuck, ask "what strategy could help here?" before giving the answer.
  • Turn subtraction into a missing-part question -- it connects straight to addition facts they already know.
  • Mix addition and subtraction in the same practice set so they learn to tell them apart quickly.
Talk about it:
  • How do you turn a subtraction problem into an addition question?
  • Which facts still feel slow? Which feel fast now?
  • Why does a little practice every day help more than one long practice?

Mastery looks like: They solve addition and subtraction facts within 20 in a few seconds, mostly from memory.

Common stumbles: Recounting from 1 instead of using a strategy; forgetting subtraction can be solved as a missing part.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

SubtractionTake away and count back, step by step.try →AdditionSee groups combine — with counters, blocks, and the number line.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Math for this learner.
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