Think aloud the borrowing
Work 503 − 278 slowly out loud: "I can't take 8 from 3. No tens to borrow, so I go to the hundreds." Show each trade with arrows. Seeing someone think through zeros makes them less scary.
Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
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