Subtraction within 5 Fluency — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. 5 fish, 1 swam away. Fish left = 4
Five minus one leaves four fish still swimming together after one fish departed.
2. 4 cookies, 2 eaten. Left = 2
Four minus two equals two cookies remaining on the plate after two were eaten.
3. 5 balloons, 4 floated up. Left = 1
Five minus four equals one, leaving just one balloon still in the child's hand.
4. 3 - 0 = 3
Subtracting zero from three never changes the count, so three remains exactly three.
5. 5 - 5 = 0
Removing all five from five leaves nothing, so the difference is zero in total.
6. Liam had 4 toys, lost 1. Left = 3
Four minus one equals three toys remaining for Liam to play with at home.
7. 5 - 3 = 2
Starting at five and stepping back three times lands on two for the answer.
8. 2 birds, 2 flew off. Left = 0
Two minus two equals zero, because every bird flew away and none stayed behind.
9. 4 - 0 = 4
Four minus zero equals four, since no items were taken away from the original group.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
5 cookies, eat 3
→ 5 - 3 = 2
5 - 3 = 2
4 balloons, 2 pop
→ 4 - 2 = 2
4 - 2 = 2
3 fish, 1 swims off
→ 3 - 1 = 2
3 - 1 = 2
5 toys, 0 lost
→ 5 - 0 = 5
5 - 0 = 5
The story tells the start and how many leave, and the equation shows that exact take away.