Review using column subtraction to subtract without regrouping

I can use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number.

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Year 4

Review using column subtraction to subtract without regrouping

I can use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

Start by subtracting the number with the smallest place value.
The minuend appears first in a column subtraction.
The subtrahend is written underneath the minuend.
Use zero to show where there are no ones, tens or hundreds represented.

Keywords

Minuend - The minuend is the number being subtracted from.
Subtrahend - A subtrahend is a number subtracted from another.
Column subtraction - Column subtraction is a way of subtracting numbers by writing a number below another.

Common misconception

Pupils may write the minuend and subtrahend the wrong way around.

Model setting out column subtraction, starting with the minuend. This can be taught alongside manipulatives such as Base 10 blocks so that pupils understand that the minuend is the number that we start with.

In this lesson, pupils set out column subtraction using 2- and 3-digit numbers. They will not use any regrouping but should have experience of subtracting a 2-digit number from a 3-digit number and have opportunities to use zero as a digit in the ones or tens of the subtrahend and difference.