Presidents' Day Centers

I Honestly Enjoy Subtraction!  is a differentiated math craftivity.  Students will delight in the opportunity to create their own Honest Abe math booklet.

Students assemble Abraham Lincoln’s face, hat, and beard.  Attach the I honestly enjoy subtraction label to the hat. The cover of your subtraction booklet is ready.

Next, students work on each subtraction problem.  I like to copy the problems on different color paper.  By doing this, I can quickly determine where each student is currently working.  My students must show a different method for each subtraction problem. When each problem is finished correctly, they add another sheet to their Honest Abe booklet.

Here’s a little background…

During our multi-digit subtraction unit students are encouraged to explore and try a variety of methods.  Currently, our second grade students do not complete multi-digit subtraction following the standard algorithm.  We have worked on a variety of different methods: number line, expanded form, ten sticks and ones, just to name a few.  

Why does our school encourage this variety?  Teachers at the middle school level were noticing that some students didn’t have firm grasp on place value.  To give our students a solid foundation, we have dedicated the early years of math number sense, place value, and exploration.

A blank page is included to create differentiated math problems.  Students with special needs complete problems that I create at their just right level.

When the subtraction problems are finished staple the sheets behind Abe Lincoln’s face and you’re done.

Check out my blog for pictures!

Thank you so much for visiting!

Judy & Rachel