Two-Digit Subtraction Worksheets

About this resource

Two-digit subtraction is where a child has to hold tens and ones in mind at once while taking part of them away, and

blocks are how most of them get there. This is a full kit for the step before borrowing: seven kinds of student page

that all start from drawn rods and cubes, 77 different problems where nothing is ever borrowed, and the

record-keeping around them. Every page has a big "My name" line, one short instruction and answer boxes a young child

can write in.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (37 pages)

• 21 student pages: 19 practice pages in 7 formats, plus a Rods and Cubes chart and a How to Subtract Tens and Ones page
• 77 two-digit subtraction problems, no two alike, with answers from 1 to 88, and 16 more numbers to build from blocks
• 12 cut-and-glue pieces in 2 sets of 6 (three straight cuts a page) and 17 shapes to solve and color in 2 pictures
• 3 answer keys, made from the same data as the pages
• 1 tracker (19 pages, 93 items), 1 class progress grid
• 1 team note and 1 home page (two draw-it boxes and two stacks for a family to fill in)
• 1 filled example (an invented student), 1 phrase and strategy bank (17 starters), 1 binder cover and 6 divider tabs

with a spine label to cut out

• Start Here, a how-to-read-a-page page, and a "what's next" back page

The Seven Formats

1. Count the Blocks (3 pages, 16 numbers): count the drawn rods and cubes and write the number; the last set also

writes it as tens and ones.

2. Subtract Tens, Ones (3 pages, 12 problems): subtract the tens, subtract the ones, write the answer. The first set

has the minuend's blocks drawn beside each problem with the subtrahend crossed out.

3. Draw, Then Subtract (3 pages, 9 problems): the first set shows the blocks already crossed out to count what is

left, the second is a light outline for the child to cross out, the third is a blank box to draw and cross out.

4. Stack and Subtract (3 pages, 18 problems): vertical subtraction in tens and ones columns. The first two sets have

column headings, the last has none.

5. Story Problems (3 pages, 9 problems): a short take-away story with a drawn object, a "My work" box on two of the

pages (the first page shows the minuend crossed out in that box), and a number sentence to write.

6. Cut and Glue (2 pages, 12 pieces): match block pictures to problems, or problems to block pictures. Six pieces a

page in a 3 by 2 block, every piece touching its neighbors.

7. Subtract and Color (2 pages, 17 shapes): solve the problem in each shape of a house and of a boat, then color it

by its answer.

Dots at the top right of each page (not words) show the level: one dot starting, two building, three ready for more.

No Borrowing, On Purpose

On every problem in the file the subtrahend's ones digit is never larger than the minuend's, and neither is its tens

digit, so nothing is ever borrowed. That is checked in code for every problem, and every block picture is checked

too: the rods and cubes drawn equal the minuend's tens and ones digits whether or not part of the picture is crossed

out, and the crossed-out rods and cubes are checked separately against the subtrahend's own digits.

Built For The Child Holding The Page

A big "My name" line, one short instruction with a picture, large rounded numbers and boxes at least half an inch

tall. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult. The rods, cubes, counting pictures and coloring pictures are

all drawn by us; there are no scores and no timers on the student pages.

Type In, Or Print

The name and date lines, the answer boxes, the tracker, the class grid, the team note and the home page are type-in

fields in any PDF reader. Every page also prints cleanly in black and white. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a

Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

Who This Is For

Second grade classrooms, self-contained and resource rooms, and any teacher working with an older student who still

needs tens and ones with blocks in front of them. The home page sends the same job to a family; the team note hands

off what changed since the last meeting.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

Two-digit subtraction practice with the record-keeping around it. It is not a probe, a goal bank or a score sheet, it

does not teach borrowing (no problem here regroups), and it makes no claim about any student's age or rate of

progress.