Kindergarten Math Lessons

Subtraction 7-1: Separating

Lesson 7-1 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Students will separate groups of counting objects to tell
separation stories.
Materials Story backgrounds (Lesson 7-1 has good story examples),
counting objects (dinosaurs, frogs, ladybugs, cows, etc…,) math
journals
Math Talk “How many are left?”
“How many are there now?”
Vocabulary: separation, left, go away, went away
Anticipatory Set • Give students a bowl/basket of the counting objects and
and Review allow them to “play” for a minute or two.
• Ask students to recall yesterday’s lesson when we made
separation stories using the things in their caddies.
• Tell them that today we will tell separation stories using the
story backgrounds and the counting objects.
Direct Instruction • You model a few separation stories using your own
and Modeling background and counting objects.
• Tell stories for the students to model using their story
backgrounds and counting objects.
• Don’t forget to have the students say the sentence, “___
take-away ___ is ___”.
• Kinesthetic Learners:
1. Put your hands together in front of your body and say,
“Subtraction…”
2. Separate your hands and say, “means to SEPARATE!”
• Teach Anchor Chart:

Anchor Chart

Independent • Have non-volunteers tell separating stories for students to

Practice model.
• Don’t forget to have the students say the sentence, “___
take-away ___ is ___”.
Reflection and • Have student use their math journals to draw and label
Assessment separation stories using pictures and “x” out the objects to
show the separation. (Do not write the sentence at this
time.)
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-1: Separate
Lesson 7-1 Above Small Group Instruction
Objective Students will determine the number of objects taken away from
a given starting number to reach a given difference.
Materials Story backgrounds, counting objects (dinosaurs, frogs, ladybugs,
cows, etc…,) math journals
Math Talk "There were ____ counters on the mat. Now there are ____ left.
How many did you take away?"

Anticipatory Set • Give them a bowl/basket of the counting objects and

and/or Review allow them to “play” for a minute or two.
• Ask students to recall yesterday’s lesson when we made
separation stories using the things in their caddies.
• Tell them that today we will tell separation stories using the
story backgrounds and the counting objects.
• Tell students the challenge for today is that they have to
figure out how many objects were taken away.

Direct Instruction • You model a few separation stories with a partner using
and Modeling your own background and counting objects.
• Start with a set of objects. Ask a student to secretly
remove a few objects while your back is turned.
• Count how many are left.
• Discuss with students how they can visualize in their head
how many were taken away now that they know how
many are left.
• Kinesthetic Learners:
1. Put your hands together in front of your body and say:
subtraction. 2. Separate your hands and say, “means to
SEPARATE!”

Anchor Chart

Guided and • Now model a few problems with the students. Have the
Independent students turn around and the teacher removes a few
Practice counters.
• Have students practice in partners.
• Don’t forget to have the students say the sentence,” There
 were ____ counters on the mat. Now there are ____ left.
How many did you take away?"

Reflection and • Have student use their math journals to draw and label
Assessment separation stories using pictures.
• Have students circle the part their partner took away.
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Lesson 7-2: TAKE AWAY
Lesson 7-2 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Students will…use concrete objects to determine the answers to
subtraction problems using numbers no greater than 5.
Materials Story mat, manipulatives, subtraction sentence frame,
Math Talk Vocab: take away, left over
Sentence frame: “--- take away---- is -----“

Anticipatory Set Tt introduces the story that Ss will be using, building interest in the
and/or Review math subtraction story

Direct Instruction • Tt will tell a subtraction story, modeling the use of the story mat
and Modeling and the manipulatives
• Ex: 5 birds are sitting in a tree. 3 birds fly away. Watch as I
take away 3 birds. “How many birds are left?”
• Let’s put our answer into our sentence frame “ 5 take away 3
is 2”
• This is how you will record your subtraction story in a
subtraction sentence

Anchor Chart

Guided Each student gets a story mat along with manipulatives

Practice The Tt will direct Ss to demonstrate the subtraction story as the Tt
provides numbers (tells the story)

Independent Ss then take turns telling the whole group a subtraction story. The
Practice group will then demonstrate the story with manipulatives, while
also reciting the subtraction sentence.

Reflection and Each student is prompted to demonstrate taking away when

Assessment they are given a subtraction story
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-2: TAKE AWAY
Lesson 7-2 Above Students will…use concrete objects to determine the answers to
subtraction problems using numbers no greater than 5.
Objective Students will…use concrete objects to determine the answers to
subtraction problems using numbers no greater than 5.
Materials Story mat, manipulatives, subtraction sentence frame,
Math Talk Vocab: take away, left over
Sentence frame: “--- take away---- is -----“

Anticipatory Set Tt introduces the story that Ss will be using, building interest in the
and/or Review math subtraction story

We will be teaching you a new strategy that you might like to try
when solving subtraction problems. It is called taking away
away.

Direct Instruction • Tt will tell a subtraction story, modeling the use of the story mat
and Modeling and the manipulatives
• Ex: 5 birds are sitting in a tree. 3 birds fly away. Watch as I
take away 3 birds. “How many birds are left?”
• Let’s put our answer into our sentence frame “ 5 take away 3
is 2”

Anchor Chart

Guided Each student gets a story mat along with manipulatives

Practice The Tt will direct Ss to demonstrate the subtraction story as the Tt
provides numbers (tells the story)

Independent Ss then take turns telling the whole group a subtraction story. The
Practice group will then demonstrate the story with manipulatives, while
also reciting the subtraction sentence.

Reflection and The record sheet will act as an assessment

Assessment
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
7-3: Comparing
Lesson 7-3 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Students will be able to find two groups to find how many more
or fewer.
Materials Objects, pencil, recording sheet, linker cubes and dice, popsicle
sticks
Math Talk There are/is _____ (#) more ______(s)
There are/is ______ (#) fewer ______(s)
The difference is ____________.

Anticipatory Set Yesterday, we learned about math take away stories. Today, you
and/or Review will learn another strategy for solving subtraction problems.

Direct Instruction Watch me as I show you how I take two numbers and compare
and Modeling them noticing how many more and then how many fewer.
(Model with manipulative and sentence frames) Refer to pg. 137
in Topic 7

Anchor Chart

Guided Practice comparing with a partner using sentence frames,

Practice manipulatives, and a die.

Independent Introduce Subtraction Trains Worksheet- Each individual student

Practice creates 2 trains to compare and completes recording sheet
independently. Do with a partner

Reflection and By comparing two numbers we notice which has number has
Assessment more or fewer. This is one way mathematicians learn to subtract.
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-3: Comparing
Lesson 7-3 Above Beyond – Compare Larger Numbers, dissimilar shaped objects,
and/or numerals
Objective Students will be able to find two groups to find how many more
or fewer.
Materials Objects, pencil, recording sheet, linker cubes and dice, popsicle
sticks
Math Talk There are/is _____ (#) more ______(s)
There are/is ______ (#) fewer ______(s)
The difference is ____________. (extension)

Anticipatory Set Yesterday, we learned about math take away stories. Today, you
and/or Review will learn another strategy for solving subtraction problems.

Direct Instruction Pose this problem:

and Modeling George has 12 pennies and Sandra has 8 pennies. How many
more pennies does George have than Sandra?
Show students using manipulatives how you can line up 12 and 8,
and using popsicle sticks, make a line from one on the 12 side to
one on the 8 side. At the end there will be 4 left on the 12 side.
Model how you would solve this problem, using pg. 137 as a
reference.
If we were to write this as a subtraction sentence, it would read:
12 - 8 = 4

Solve a few more problems together, allowing the students to use

manipulatives and popsicle sticks to demonstrate understanding

Anchor Chart

Guided Have students solve this problem:

Practice Tony has 8 cookies. Samuel has 5. How many more cookies does
Tony have?

Independent Teach Subtraction Train Game- Each individual student creates 2

Practice trains to compare and completes recording sheet
independently.
(This can game can be placed in centers next week)
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-4: Minus Sign
Lesson 7-4 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Students will use the – sign to represent “take- away” when
recording subtraction.
Materials Paper bag puppet, manipulatives (that the puppets eat)
recording sheet
Math Talk Teacher talk: “The Munching Puppet is hungry, he/she ate ___
(Sentence Frames) how many are left? Now say a number sentence using “Minus”
instead of “Take a way.”
Student talk: “____ minus ____ equals _____”

Anticipatory Set We’ve been learning different ways to subtract. We learned

and/or Review how to separate, take away and to compare…now we are
going to learn a new way to record our subtraction stories.

Direct Instruction “This sign is for subtraction. It is called a minus sign. 6 minus 4
and Modeling means subtraction.” (Model with a an example 6 take away 4 is
2, and now compare that with the number sentence 6 – 4 = 2)

Anchor Chart

Guided and 1. Prep the Munching Puppets paper and white out the
Independent minus sign, (below group might need one day of tracing
Practice the minus sign before independent practice.)
2. Model how to use the puppet using the manipulatives. Use
the sentence frame and record using the symbol.

Reflection and Teacher observation, check with the students while they use the
Assessment Puppet to manipulate the equations.
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-4: Minus Sign

Lesson 7-4 Above Small Group Instruction

Objective Students will use the – sign to represent “take- away” when
recording subtraction.
Materials Paper bag puppet, manipulatives (that the puppets eat)
recording sheet
Math Talk Teacher talk: “The Munching Puppet is hungry, he/she ate ___
(Sentence Frames) how many are left? Now say a number sentence using “Minus”
instead of “Take a way.”
Student talk: “____ minus ____ equals _____”

Anticipatory Set We’ve been learning different ways to subtract. We learned

and/or Review how to separate, take away and to compare…now we are
going to learn a new way to record our subtraction stories.

Direct Instruction “This sign is for subtraction. It is called a minus sign. 6 minus 4
and Modeling means subtraction.” (Model with a an example 6 take away 4 is
2, and now compare that with the number sentence 6 – 4 = 2)

When creating your own subtraction problem, you will always

want to start with the greater number. We call this a “whole.”

Anchor Chart

Guided and 1. Prep the Munching Puppets paper and white out the
Independent minus sign, and the numbers.
Practice 2. Model how to use the puppet using the manipulatives. Use
the sentence frame and record using the symbol.
3. Students will use a deck of cards and pull 2 cards. They will
find the “whole” or the larger number and place the cards
in the correct order.
4. They will act out the story with the puppet.
5. They will write an equation using the minus sign.

Reflection and Teacher observation, check with the students while they use the
Assessment Puppet to manipulate the equations.
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-5: Equals sign
Lesson 7-5 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Finding differences
Use the equals sign to write a subtraction sentence
Materials Counters, anchor chart, subtraction story worksheet
Math Talk ____ minus/subtract _____ is _______.
Anticipatory Set There are 12 birds. 8 fly away. How many are left?
and Review (Give counters to have students solve on their own)

Direct Instruction You had the whole number of 12 and the number 8 was one of
and Modeling the parts of 12. We found out that the part you did not know
what 4. Here is a way we can write it: 12-8=4
• Use anchor chart to teach the 5 parts of the equation, be
sure to teach the minus sign as minus or subtract, not take
away.
Show students a few sample equations/word problems, support
students as they solve the problems with you using manipulatives.
Anchor Chart

Independent Work with a parter:

Practice *You have 5 fire hats, 3 fire fighters need to go, how many hats
are left? Show them the equation, 5-3=2. Student’s solve on their
own.
*If time: Subtraction Stories (see attached sheet)

Reflection and Check Subtraction Story Picture

Assessment
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-5: Equals Sign
Lesson 7-5 Small-Group
Above Above: 1 Day
Objective Students will use the minus sign and equal sign to show
subtraction
Materials Counters, anchor chart.
Math Talk ____ minus/subtract _____ is _______.
Anticipatory Set A school of fish was swimming together in the ocean. There were
and Review 12 fish in all. Another school of fish decided to join them, making
a larger school of fish. The new larger group had 18 fish. How
many fish were in the school that joined the first group of fish?

Let the students use manipulatives or white boards to see if they

can work together to solve the problem.
Direct Instruction You had the whole number of 18 and the number 12 was one of
and Modeling the parts of 18. We found out that the part you did not know
what 16. Here is a way we can write it: 28-12=16
• Use anchor chart to teach the parts of the equation
• Also teach the other way to write an equation:
18
-12
6
Focus on the ones place and the tens place and subtracting
each place value

Anchor Chart

Independent Work with a partner to solve these problems:

Practice “Sophie has 8 shoes pennies and Luke has 12 shoes. How many
more pennies does Luke have than Sophie? “
“Liam has 7 fewer pennies than Tony. Tony has 11. How many
pennies does Liam have?”
“Elizabeth has some candies. She gives 17 to Ruben. Now she has
8 candies. How many did she give to Ruben?”
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-6: Subtraction Sentences
Lesson 7-6 Small Group Instruction
On/Below “On (1 day) & Below (2 days)”
Objective Write and solve subtraction sentences
Materials Counters, Oh Fishsticks Game prepped
Math Talk ___ minus ____ equals ____
Anticipatory Set Act out a subtraction story using counters:
and Review 5 puppets are on the puppet stage. 2 puppets leave the stage.
How many puppets are left on the stage?

Direct Instruction Show students how you can take the story above and turn it into
and Modeling a subtraction sentence.

____ -- _____ = ______

Use the worksheet for 7-6 to solve the problems together.

(Day 2 for Below/Day 1 for On) Teach students the “Oh,
fishsticks!” Game
Solve some together
Anchor Chart

Independent Oh Fishsticks! Game

Practice
 Kindergarten Math Lessons
Subtraction 7-6 Subtraction Sentences
Lesson 7-6 Small-Group
Above Above: 1 Day
Objective Write and solve subtraction sentences
Materials Counters, Oh Fishsticks Game prepped
Math Talk ___ minus ____ equals ____
Anticipatory Set We have been working on different ways to show and solve
and Review subtraction problems. Today, you are going to use the method
you prefer (take away, comparing, using your fingers,
manipulatives, dots) to solve and write subtraction problems.

Direct Instruction Do a few different problems, using the stories from 7-7, adapting
and Modeling the numbers if they need a challenge.

Teach the students that the order that they do and write the
subtraction problems is very important in subtraction.

Anchor Chart

Independent Teach “Oh Fishsticks!” game, giving this group the more
Practice challenging spinners.