1

Chapter

Addition and Subtraction:

The Big Ideas and Essential
Understandings
Young children begin learning mathematics before they enter
school. They learn to count, and they can solve simple problems by
counting. In the primary grades, mathematics instruction focuses
on the development of number sense, understanding of numerical
operations, and fluency in performing computations. Principles and
Standards for School Mathematics (National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics [NCTM] 2000) describes the development of these skills
and concepts, asserting that by the end of grade 2, students should—
• understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relation-
ships among numbers, and number systems;
• understand meanings of operations and how they relate to
one another;
• compute fluently and make reasonable estimates. (NCTM
2000, p. 78)
Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8
Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence (NCTM 2006) continues to
emphasize the importance of developing both conceptual under-
standing and procedural understanding of addition and subtraction.
Building on Principles and Standards, Curriculum Focal Points rec-
ommends that instruction focus on developing this understanding
throughout the early grades. Activities in kindergarten should center
on joining and separating sets:
Children use numbers, including written numerals, to repre-
sent quantities and to solve quantitative problems, such as . . .
modeling simple joining and separating situations with objects.
They choose, combine, and apply effective strategies for an-
swering quantitative questions, including quickly recognizing
the number in a small set, counting and producing sets of
given sizes, counting the number in combined sets, and counting
backward. (NCTM 2006, p. 12)

7
8 Addition and Subtraction

In grade 1, instruction should focus on developing students’ un-

derstanding of addition and subtraction as well as related facts and
strategies associated with these operations:
Children develop strategies for adding and subtracting whole
numbers on the basis of their earlier work with small numbers.
They use a variety of models, including discrete objects, length-
based models (e.g., lengths of connecting cubes), and number
lines, to model “part-whole,” “adding to,” “taking away from,”
and “comparing” situations to develop an understanding of the
meanings of addition and subtraction and strategies to solve
such arithmetic problems. Children understand the connections
between counting and the operations of addition and subtrac-
tion (e.g., adding two is the same as “counting on” two). They
use properties of addition (commutativity and associativity) to
add whole numbers, and they create and use increasingly so-
phisticated strategies based on these properties (e.g., “making
tens”) to solve addition and subtraction problems involving ba-
sic facts. By comparing a variety of solution strategies, children
relate addition and subtraction as inverse operations. (NCTM
2006, p. 13)
In grade 2, the instructional focus should shift to helping students
develop quick recall of addition and related subtraction facts, as
well as fluency with multi-digit addition and subtraction:
Children use their understanding of addition to develop quick
recall of basic addition facts and related subtraction facts. They
solve arithmetic problems by applying their understanding of
models of addition and subtraction (such as combining or sep-
arating sets or using number lines), relationships and proper-
ties of number (such as place value), and properties of addition
(commutativity and associativity). Children develop, discuss,
and use efficient, accurate, and generalizable methods to add
and subtract multidigit whole numbers. They select and apply
appropriate methods to estimate sums and differences or cal-
culate them mentally, depending on the context and numbers
involved. They develop fluency with efficient procedures, in-
cluding standard algorithms, for adding and subtracting whole
numbers, understand why the procedures work (on the basis
of place value and properties of operations), and use them to
solve problems. (NCTM 2006, p. 14)
This chapter discusses in detail the mathematical concepts that
these publications outline. In addition, it relates various mathemati-
cal processes to these concepts by exploring—
• situations for which addition and subtraction can be used to
solve problems;
The Big Ideas and Essential Understandings 9

• ways to represent addition and subtraction;

• ways to reason with addition and subtraction; and
• connections and relationships among these and other
mathematical topics.
It also examines numerical relationships that arise from studying
multiple representations and the reasoning required for the mean-
ingful use and understanding of computational algorithms, written
and mental, standard and nonstandard. The representations have
been chosen primarily for their usefulness in illustrating the math-
ematical concepts. Most of the early examples use counters, since
these constitute the most elementary representation, but later dis-
cussions involve the use of other representations for addition and
subtraction, such as the number line, a hundreds chart, and base-
ten place-value blocks.
“Unpacking” ideas related to addition and subtraction is a
critical step in establishing deeper understanding. To someone with-
out training as a teacher, these ideas might appear to be simple to
teach. But those who teach young students are aware of the subtle-
ties and complexities of the ideas themselves and the challenges of
presenting them clearly and coherently in the classroom. Teachers
of young students also have an idea of the overarching importance
of addition and its inverse operation, subtraction:
Overarching idea: Addition and its inversely related operation,
subtraction, are powerful foundational concepts in mathemat-
ics, with applications to many problem situations and connec-
tions to many other topics. Addition determines the whole in
terms of the parts, and subtraction determines a missing part.
This overarching idea anchors teachers’ understanding and
their instruction. It incorporates two big ideas about addition
and subtraction that are crucial to understand. The first relates to
when to use each operation, and the second deals with how to get
answers efficiently and accurately. Each of these two big ideas in-
volves several smaller, more specific essential understandings.
These big ideas and essential understandings are identified here
as a group to give you a quick overview and for your convenience
in referring back to them later. Read through them now, but do not
think that you must absorb them fully at this point. The chapter
will discuss each one in turn in detail.
10 Addition and Subtraction

iea
d Big Idea 1. Addition and subtraction are used to represent
and solve many different kinds of problems.

Essential Understanding 1a. Addition and subtraction of whole

numbers are based on sequential counting with whole numbers.

Essential Understanding 1b. Subtraction has an inverse relation-

ship with addition.

Essential Understanding 1c. Many different problem situations

can be represented by part-part-whole relationships and
addition or subtraction.

Essential Understanding 1d. Part-part-whole relationships can

be expressed by using number sentences like a + b = c or
c – b = a, where a and b are the parts and c is the whole.

Essential Understanding 1e. The context of a problem situation

and its interpretation can lead to different representations.

Big Idea 2. The mathematical foundations for understand-

iea
d ing computational procedures for addition and subtraction of
whole numbers are the properties of addition and place value.

Essential Understanding 2a. The commutative and associative

properties for addition of whole numbers allow computations
to be performed flexibly.

Essential Understanding 2b. Subtraction is not commutative or

associative for whole numbers.

Essential Understanding 2c. Place-value concepts provide a

convenient way to compose and decompose numbers to
facilitate addition and subtraction computations.

Essential Understanding 2d. Properties of addition are central in

justifying the correctness of computational algorithms.
The Big Ideas and Essential Understandings 11

Representing and Solving Problems:

Big Idea 1
Big Idea 1. Addition and subtraction are used to represent and solve
many different kinds of problems. iea
d
Many different types of problems can be represented by addition
or subtraction. It is important to learn how to recognize these situ-
ations and represent them symbolically, building on counting with
whole numbers. By understanding these situations and their repre-
sentations well, teachers can provide students with many different
examples of addition and subtraction problems. The discussion be-
low of Big Idea 1 presents and examines fifteen examples that illus-
trate situations that can be represented by addition or subtraction.

Building on sequential counting

Essential Understanding 1a. Addition and subtraction of whole
numbers are based on sequential counting with whole numbers.

Situations that can be represented by addition or subtraction can

be considered as basic applications of counting forward or back. For an extended
Even very young children can solve simple addition and subtrac- discussion of
tion story problems by counting concrete objects (e.g., Starkey and counting strategies
Gelman 1982; Carpenter and Moser 1983). They establish a one- and number ideas,
to-one correspondence by moving, touching, or pointing to each see Developing
object that they are counting as they say the corresponding number Essential Under-
words. The following two examples demonstrate how counting re- standing of Number
lates to addition and subtraction situations. and Numeration
for Teaching
Example 1 lends itself to a number of simple counting
Mathematics in Pre-
strategies:
kindergarten–Grade
Example 1: Max has 2 apples. He picks 5 more. How many 2 (Dougherty et al.
apples does Max have now? 2010).

This problem can be represented with concrete objects by first plac-

ing 2 counters (the quantity that Max starts with) and then placing
a second group of 5 more counters. Figure 1.1 illustrates the two
groups of counters.

Fig. 1.1. Counters representing 2 and 5

12 Addition and Subtraction

A variety of counting strategies might be used to find the total

number of counters:
• Count all: Count each of the counters: 1, 2 [pause] 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
• Count on from the first number: A more efficient way to find
the total is to count on, beginning with the first quantity
given in the problem (in this case, 2): 2 [pause], 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
• Count on from the larger number: A still more efficient way
to find the total is to count on, beginning with the larger
number (5, in this case) and counting on the smaller number
(2): 5, [pause] 6, 7.
Reflect 1.1 explores possible ways to use counters with these
strategies.

Reflect 1.1
What counters might a child point to as she uses each of the counting strategies
shown above?
Does a child need all of the counters for counting on?

Each of the “counting on” strategies is more efficient when

problem solvers recognize the first number that they use without
counting. This process reduces the difficulty of many tasks and is
frequently useful in playing games, counting coins, or other simple
everyday tasks. Recognizing patterns on number cubes and dominoes,
such as in figure 1.2 is particularly helpful.

Fig. 1.2. Number cubes and dominoes

Relating numbers to the benchmark quantities 5 and 10 helps

students see the relative sizes of numbers and can therefore support
their transition from counting to later work in addition and subtrac-
tion. In the five-frame on the left in figure 1.3, we not only recog-
nize the three counters without counting, but we also note without
counting that there are two empty spaces, so 3 is 2 less than 5, or
3 + 2 = 5, or 5 – 2 = 3. In the ten-frame on the right, we see that
6 is 1 more than 5, or 6 = 5 + 1, and that 6 is 4 less than 10, or
6 + 4 = 10, or 6 = 10 – 4.
The Big Ideas and Essential Understandings 13

Fig. 1.3. Five-frame and ten-frame representing 3 and 6, respectively

Working with dot patterns, whether on a ten-frame or a num-
ber cube, can help students recognize the number of objects without
counting. Some representations are more useful for building recog-
nition of multiples—especially doubles. The arrangement of six dots
on a number cube is similar to the arrangement of counters on the
ten-frame shown in figure 1.4. This arrangement leads to thinking
of 6 as two rows of 3, or 6 = 3 + 3. Reflect 1.2 explores extending
this thinking to other arrangements of dots.

Fig. 1.4. Another way to show 6

Reflect 1.2
What number relationships might students perceive from the standard
arrangements of dots on a number cube?

Example 2 lends itself to a different counting strategy:

Example 2: Sari has 5 apples. Three are red. The rest are
yellow. How many of Sari’s apples are yellow?
One way of using counting to solve this problem is to lay out 5
counters, separate (perhaps by circling) the 3 that represent red
apples, and then count the remaining counters. Figure 1.5 depicts
this situation.

Fig. 1.5. Counters representing 5 with 3 as one part

We might also solve this problem by “counting on.” We could
lay out 3 counters for the 3 red apples and then count on until we
had counters for 5 apples, as shown in figure 1.6.
14 Addition and Subtraction

3 4 5

Fig. 1.6. Counting on to represent 5 with 3 as one part

Alternatively, we might represent the problem by “counting
back.” We could start with 5 counters and then count back 3 for the
3 red apples, as illustrated in figure 1.7. Consider the question in
Reflect 1.3 to compare “counting on” and “counting back.”

5 4 3 2

Fig. 1.7. “Counting back” to represent 5 with 3 as one part

Reflect 1.3
Why is “counting back” so much more difficult than “counting on”?

The inverse relationship of addition and

subtraction
Essential Understanding 1b. Subtraction has an inverse relationship
with addition.

The chart in figure 1.8 shows the input and the output for the
algebraic rule “add 2.” The output number is always two more than
the input number.

Rule: Add 2
Input Output
1 3
5 7
8 10
11 13

Fig. 1.8. Input/output table

The relationship in figure 1.8 is a function and can be repre-
sented by a function machine, as shown in figure 1.9. We can re-
verse the action of adding 2 by subtracting 2.
The Big Ideas and Essential Understandings 15

For a discussion
of the inverse
x Add 2 x+2
relationship
between
Fig. 1.9. A function machine for “add 2” multiplication
and division, see
Example 2, about Sari’s apples, showed a problem situation Developing Essential
that some people would represent by addition, while others would Understanding of
use subtraction. The “counting on” subtraction strategy described Multiplication and
above is grounded in the fact that 5 – 3 = ☐ is equivalent to 5 = 3 Division for Teach-
+ ☐. The result of subtracting b from a, a – b, is formally defined ing Mathematics in
as the number y where a = b + y. This definition builds logically Grades 3–5 (Otto
et al. 2011).
on what students already know about addition, demonstrating why
some problems can be solved by either operation.
Understanding the relationship between addition and subtrac-
tion reduces the number of facts that students must “know” by
giving them a consistent, reliable strategy for subtraction: use the
related addition fact. These related facts then form fact families.
The third column in figure 1.10 shows a more formal algebraic
description of a fact family.

2+3=5 4+4=8 b+y=a

3+2=5 y+b=a
5–2=3 8–4=4 a–b=y
5–3=2 a–y=b

Fig. 1.10. Examples of fact families

The language describing subtraction is often very difficult for For a discussion of
using appropriate
students to comprehend and use correctly. We may read the expres-
terminology and
sion 5 – 3 in many ways. Thinking about this expression in terms
representing word
of parts and wholes may be helpful, since 5 (the minuend) is the problems with
whole, and 3 (the subtrahend) is a part. “Five minus 3” is the way multiplication and
that many adults would read the expression. Students might read division, see
it as “5 take away 3,” but they might also say it as “3 taken away Developing Essential
from 5.” The same expression might be read either as “5 subtract Understanding of
3” or as “3 subtracted from 5.” It also might be read as “5 less 3” Multiplication
or as “3 less than 5.” Note that in these phrases, the order of the and Division for
numbers shifts, and some expressions include a preposition (from Teaching
or than). It is very difficult for children to distinguish differences Mathematics in
among the meanings of these phrases, and this confusion leads Grades 3–5 (Otto
et al. 2011).
them to make frequent reversal errors. Chapter 3 describes strategies
for helping students make sense of actions in word problems and
the language of addition and subtraction.