Subtraction from 20: Making 10 Strategy (Pictorial/Abstract)

Free sample questions, a clear explanation, and 5 practice skills with an AI tutor that guides without giving the answer away.

Making 10: Your Subtraction Superpower!

Hi, Math Explorer! Are you ready to learn a super trick to make subtraction easy and fun? It’s called the “Making 10” strategy!

Imagine you have a full carton of 12 yummy eggs. That’s one full box of 10, and 2 extra eggs sitting beside it. If you need to give a friend 5 eggs, what’s the easiest way?

First, give them the 2 extra eggs. Poof! Now you just have your perfect box of 10. You still need to give them 3 more eggs (because 5 is made of 2 and 3). So, you open the box of 10 and take out 3. You already know that 10 - 3 = 7. You have 7 eggs left! You just used your subtraction superpower!

From Pictures to Numbers

We can draw this and write it with numbers. Let’s solve 14 - 6. First, we can draw 14 as one full ten-frame and 4 extra dots.

To subtract 6, we first want to get back to a friendly 10. We can do this by crossing out the 4 extra dots.
14 - 4 = 10

But we need to subtract 6 in total, not just 4. We broke the number 6 into two parts: 4 and 2. We already subtracted the 4. Now we just subtract the 2 from our perfect ten-frame.
10 - 2 = 8

The full number sentence shows our thinking: 14 - 6 = 14 - 4 - 2 = 10 - 2 = 8.

Key Takeaway: The "Make 10" Steps!

Step 1: Look at the number you are taking away (e.g., the 6 in 14 - 6).
Step 2: Break it into two parts. The first part gets you down to 10 (break 6 into 4 and 2).
Step 3: Take away the second part from 10. That's your answer! (10 - 2 = 8).

Let's Solve a Puzzle!

"Leo had 15 stickers. He gave 8 stickers to his friend, Maya. How many stickers does Leo have left?"

Our problem is 15 - 8. Let's use our strategy! To get 15 down to 10, we need to take away 5. So we break 8 into 5 and 3.

First: 15 - 5 = 10. (Leo gives away the 5 'extra' stickers).
Next: 10 - 3 = 7. (He gives away 3 more from his pack of 10).

Leo has 7 stickers left! Great job solving!

See? You can solve tricky subtraction problems by making 10 first. Keep practicing, and you'll be a subtraction superstar!

Sample questions

1. Imagine you have 14 circles. If you cross out 4 circles to make 10, how many more circles do you need to cross out to subtract a total of 6? What is 14 - 6?

○ 10

○ 9

○ 7

✓ 8

Answer: 8 — First, take away to get to 10.

2. You have 12 cookies. You eat 2 cookies to have 10 left. How many more cookies do you need to eat to take away a total of 5 cookies? What is 12 - 5?

✓ 7

○ 8

○ 6

○ 10

Answer: 7 — How many more from 10?

3. Sarah has 15 balloons. She wants to give away 7 balloons. She first gives away 5 balloons to have 10 left. How many more balloons does she need to give away from 10? What is 15 - 7?

○ 9

✓ 8

○ 10

○ 7

Answer: 8 — Break 7 into 5 and another number.

Skills in this topic

Solve subtraction problems within 20 by drawing pictorial representations of 'taking from 10'.
Write abstract equations to represent the 'taking from 10' strategy (e.g., 14 - 6 = 14 - 4 - 2 = 10 - 2 = 8).
Apply the 'taking from 10' strategy to solve subtraction facts within 20 mentally.
Solve one-step word problems involving subtraction within 20 using the 'taking from 10' strategy.
Explain how knowing 10 - 7 = 3 helps you solve 17 - 7 = 10 and then 17 - 9 = 8.

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