This completing fact families worksheet gives 1st graders six number houses to fill in—writing two addition and two subtraction facts for each set of numbers. Answer key included for fast, no-prep math practice.
This subtraction as an unknown addend activity helps K through 2nd grade students solve subtraction within 20 by matching each fact to its addition fact card. Answer key included.
This Thanksgiving fact families worksheet gives 1st grade students practice with addition and subtraction within 20. An answer key is included, so a holiday math review takes almost no prep.
Find the missing number in equations within 20 with this adding and subtracting unknown numbers activity for 1st and 2nd grade: matching cards, a recording sheet and practice, answer key included.
This fact families worksheet has 1st graders write twelve column addition and subtraction facts from three number families within 20. An answer key is included for quick, no-prep checking.
This 1.OA.4 common core worksheet gives 1st grade students three fact families and the four related addition and subtraction facts in each, plus an answer key, so subtraction starts to feel like addition read backwards.
In this 1.OA.4 First Grade Common Core Lesson, students practice finding the missing added using subtraction as strategy to solve.
This christmas math fact families worksheet gives 1st Grade students three number triangles and twelve facts to write. An answer key is included, so holiday fact practice needs no prep.
In this 1.OA.1 First Grade Common Core Lesson, students find the missing addends in equations up to 20.
This subtraction with 6-7-8-9 differences activity is a snowy card sort for kindergarten and 1st grade students. Solve each fact, sort it under its snowflake, and check with the answer key included.
This St. Patrick's Day Fact Families Worksheet gives 1st grade students three triangles with a missing number and room to write all four related facts. An answer key is included, so it is ready to print and go.
This subtraction with 2-3-4-5 differences activity is a winter card sort for kindergarten and 1st grade. Children solve facts within 10, sort each card under its snowflake, and check with the answer key included.
In this 1.OA.8 First Grade Common Core Lesson, students find the unknown whole number in addition equations up to 20.
Three numbers, four facts, one family
First graders learn that addition and subtraction are connected. Three numbers like 3, 5 and 8 make a fact family with four facts: 3 + 5 = 8, 5 + 3 = 8, 8 − 3 = 5, 8 − 5 = 3. Kids learn to think of subtraction as a missing addend problem: to solve 8 − 3, ask "3 plus what makes 8?" This makes subtraction much easier, because addition facts are usually learned first. The click comes when a child solves a subtraction problem by saying, "I know 3 + 5 = 8, so it's 5!"
Fact families make sense when kids see the parts and the whole. These moves show it.
Give kids 8 counters. Split them into 3 and 5 and write all four facts. Then push them back together and take 3 away. Moving the same counters shows that adding and subtracting are just two directions of the same story.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withSubtraction as an Unknown Addend ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Draw a house with the biggest number in the roof and the two parts in the windows. Model writing four facts inside, saying "the whole stays on top." Do two houses together, then let kids fill their own. A picture structure keeps facts organized.
Why it works: showing first, practicing together, then letting kids try alone is the "gradual release" model teachers have relied on for decades (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Try it withFact Families WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Write 4 + ? = 9 and ask partners to explain how they'd find it. Push for "I know 4 + 5 = 9, so it's 5." Saying the connection aloud is what turns fact families into a subtraction strategy.
Why it works: using clear, consistent math words out loud is one of the U.S. Department of Education's recommendations for elementary math.
Try it withAdding and Subtracting Unknown Numbers ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Seasonal fact family fun kids look forward to.
WorksheetsFill each turkey's feathers with the four facts from its number family.
Open Thanksgiving Fact Families Worksheet →
WorksheetsDecorate ornaments with fact families and hang them on a class tree.
Open Christmas Math Fact Families Worksheet →
WorksheetsOne fact is given. Can kids find the other three family members?
Open Completing Fact Families Worksheet →Teacher favorites right now: Completing Fact Families Worksheet, Subtraction as an Unknown Addend Activity and Thanksgiving Fact Families Worksheet.
A fact family is a group of related addition and subtraction facts that use the same three numbers. For 2, 6 and 8: 2 + 6 = 8, 6 + 2 = 8, 8 − 2 = 6 and 8 − 6 = 2.
They show that addition and subtraction are connected. Kids who understand fact families can use addition facts they know to solve subtraction problems.
Usually four. When the two parts are the same, like 4 + 4 = 8, there are only two facts: 4 + 4 = 8 and 8 − 4 = 4.
Use snacks or toys. Put 7 in a pile, split it into 4 and 3, and ask your child to say all four facts. Dominoes work great too.
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