Describes the work that students and teachers do to develop computational fluency for subtraction. Examines the orchestration of whole-class discourse and presents a collection of common strategies. (Author/NB)

Discusses the importance of developing teachers' computational fluency so that they can effectively support their students' fluency work. Provides suggestions for helping teachers develop computational fluency with subtraction. (Author/NB)

The study involving 183 learning disabled and 852 nondisabled children (grades 3 through 6), investigated students' performance on arithmetic basic fact problems in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Three separate group administered tests were devised, covering 98 basic addition, 98 subtraction, and 98 multiplication facts. Children were…

Six easy-to-learn strategies are offered to help students with learning problems in mathematics make error-free subtraction calculations when either the subtrahend or remainder is a 9, 8, or 7 and when the minuend is in the teens. (CB)

Changes in children's cognitive strategies for solving simple subtractions were studied by analyzing verbal reports given immediately after each problem. The development of children's cognitive processes involved a gradual shift from more primitive and less demanding memory strategies to reconstructive memory processes to retrieval processes.…

Nigerian second graders (n=58) were given instruction on using counting and thinking strategies. Compared to 54 controls, they performed better on recall and retention of number facts. (SK)

Two mnemonic acronyms can help learning-disabled children remember to complete the necessary steps for regrouping in addition and subtraction. (DB)

Directions are given for preparing a puzzle that may be used to provide practice in computation. (MP)

This paper is concerned with the role of meaning and understanding in the acquisition of computational skill in subtraction. Evidence on the syntactic nature of subtraction errors is reviewed, with common "bugs" described. Then, data collected from interviews with four children are summarized in terms of their semantics of concrete…

Allowing students to examine different ways of performing an operation is suggested as a means of increasing their understanding. (MP)

Use of the commutativity, addition-subtraction complement, and N+1 progression principles was studied by interviewing 54 capable pupils in grades 1-3. Commutativity was used extensively at each grade, while the addition-subtraction principle to solve subtraction varied across grades, and the N+1 pattern was seldom used. (MNS)

Several ideas for questions and settings for interviews are presented. It is noted that although subtraction is used as an example in each case, most of the material can be easily adapted to the other basic operations. Many problems are noted with standard diagnostic tests and use of them is discouraged. (MP)

Describes how a 2nd grade class learned to add and subtract effectively by packing and unpacking "Aunt Mary's candies." (KHR)

A collection of games and puzzles that teachers can use to replace or supplement the usual textbook subtraction examples involving large numbers is given. Most of the nine activities are self-checking. (MNS)

Several subtraction algorithms are analyzed to see if they involve borrowing. The main focus is on an analysis of a procedure called the residue method. The operational arithmetic which underlies the symbolic manipulations is examined and conditions where the method does and does not use borrowing are highlighted. (MP)