Solve Word Problems by Subtracting Video

S: There’s candy on my desk!

T: There sure is! How many candies do you count?

S: Hmm, there are 26 candies.

T: That’s right! There are 26 candies on your desk. Now I’m going to take 11 of them. How many candies are left?

S: This sounds like a subtraction problem.

T: Exactly! Let’s try subtracting 26 minus 11 on this number line.

S: Okay!

T: Look at this subtraction sentence. Which number is the whole?

S: 26 is the whole because it’s the first number in the subtraction sentence.

T: Good! We’ll put a dot right above 26 on the number line. Which number is the part?

S: Oh, I know! 11 is the part because that’s the number of candies being taken away.

T: Let’s look at 11 even closer. What digits are in the place values of 11?

S: 11 is made up of 1 ten and 1 one.

T: Very good. We can subtract 11 by jumping to the left on the number line. We’ll make 1 jump of ten and 1 jump of one.

S: Cool! So the difference is 15. There are 15 candies left on my desk!

T: You did it! Let’s try another one. I’ll put 58 candies on your desk and I’ll take away 24. What subtraction sentence will we solve?

S: 58 minus 24 equals something.

T: Excellent! Here is our number line. Where should I draw the dot?

S: I know! You draw the dot right above 58 because it is the whole!

T: And how many jumps should I make?

S: Well, 24 is the part. So you can make 2 jumps of ten and 4 jumps of one.

T: Okay!

S: Teacher! You are jumping to the right!

T: Ha ha! You caught me! Jumping to the right on a number line helps us add. We want to subtract. Which way should I draw the jumps?

S: To the left.

T: That’s correct!

S: We did it! 58 - 24 = 34. There are 34 candies on my desk.

You did a great job subtracting on a number line. I think it’s time to eat some candy now!