Grade Levels: K-3

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Counting Back Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP Jr. topic Counting Back. It supports the standard of using addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to and taking from. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

  • When might you use subtraction to solve a real-world problem? Why would it be helpful?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Play the Counting Back movie.  
  • Click the pause button each time a question appears in Annie’s Notebook and discuss it as a class. Then play to see how Annie answers it. 

TIP: The pause button turns red to remind you to pause. 

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS

Students take the Easy Quiz or Hard Quiz, demonstrating what they learned about the topic while applying essential literacy skills.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about counting back while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student or grade-level needs.

  • Draw About It: Draw a picture to represent a word problem.
  • Activity: Count back from the highest number to find the answer.
  • Talk About It: Write a number sentence for each pictured item.
  • Write About It: Find the number Moby is thinking of, and explain how you found it.

More to Explore 

Addition and Subtraction Unit: Continue to build understanding around basic operations by exploring more BrainPOP Jr. topics.

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Extension Activities: