Foundation Year 4 Subtraction with one exchange with answers

These are PDF files that you can print off at home.

Children subtract up to 4-digit numbers, with one exchange. It is important that children complete the formal written method alongside any concrete manipulatives to support understanding.

Before subtracting each column, ask,

“Do you have enough ones/tens/hundreds to subtract ____?”

 If not, then an exchange is needed.

For this small step, the exchange could take place from the tens, hundreds or thousands, but there is only one exchange per calculation

Children use a place value chart and place value counters to answer the questions. They exchange the counters when needed. They then solve the calculations already written in the formal method.

Use these questions to support your child.

What is ___ less than ___?

Does it matter which column you subtract first?

Do you need to make an exchange?

How can you subtract two numbers if one of them has fewer digits than the other?

Children may not line up the digits in the place value columns correctly, especially when the numbers have different numbers of digits.

Children may find the difference between the two digits in a column instead of subtracting the second digit from the first in order to avoid an exchange, for example 1 – 3 becomes 3 – 1

Yoi can use these support sentences to help your child.

____ones/tens/hundreds subtract____ ones/tens/ hundreds is equal to____.

I can/cannot subtract____ ones/tens/hundreds from ____ones/tens/hundreds, so I do/do not need to make an exchange