Here is a subtraction: 73 − 28. Would you count UP from 28 until you reach 73, or would you take 28 AWAY from 73? Both give the same answer, but one might feel easier. Which would you pick, and why?

Three subtractions, each shown with the strategy that suits its numbers. Counting on is quick when the two numbers are close; taking away suits subtracting a small amount; decomposition handles a bigger one. Watch how each jumps along the line and where it lands.

We work through three subtractions together on the board. For each one, choose a strategy first, then predict where the arc will land before you draw it: 64 − 39, then 52 − 27, then 246 − 123.

Today we take turns at the board and use the jump route shown for each subtraction: 73 − 28, then 64 − 39, then 305 − 178, then the stretch 1,000 − 487. Remember: when we count ON, the answer is the TOTAL of our jumps, not the number we land on. For 1,000 − 487 we count on and land on 1,000, but the answer is the size of the jumps added together. That last one has an empty thousand full of zeros — think about whether counting on from 487 might beat taking away.