What comes after winter? Spring! What comes after the equals sign in a subtraction equation? The difference! In this spring lesson plan, students will look at a variety of spring-themed subtraction pictures and write matching equations.

Use this lesson to teach your students how to determine if they should use addition, subtraction, or both operations to solve a word problem by following four simple steps.

Get your students comfortable with discussing multiple strategies to solve subtraction problems with this lesson on two- and three-digit subtraction. It may be taught independently or as support for the lesson Subtraction with Regrouping.