Talk through the trades
Solve one problem on the board and narrate every trade: "I can't take 8 ones from 3 ones, so I trade one ten for ten ones." Write the trades in a different color. When kids can say why they cross out a digit, their errors drop fast.
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).
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