Kindergarten · Math · week 11

Take-away stories

Model subtraction stories within 5 using real objects, taking some away and counting what is left.

Subtraction means taking some away and seeing what is left. If you have 5 cookies and eat 2, count what remains: 1, 2, 3. Now you have 3 cookies.

We write this as 5 - 2 = 3. The minus sign means take away. Count what is left, not what you took away.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Use real objects again. Physically remove the objects being taken away, do not just point.
  • Have your child count what is left, out loud, every single time.
  • Say the story clearly: 5 grapes, eat 2, how many are left?
  • Keep totals at 5 or less this week so the counting stays easy and the idea is the focus.
Talk about it:
  • What does subtraction mean?
  • When you subtract, do you count what is left or what you took away?
  • Can you tell me a take-away story from something that happened today?

Mastery looks like: They act out take-away stories within 5 with objects and correctly count what remains.

Common stumbles: Counting the objects that were removed instead of the ones left; starting the countdown from the wrong number.

See it visually

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

SubtractionTake away and count back, step by step.try →Counting & Ten-FramesCount objects in ten-frames and base-ten blocks, one tap at a time.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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