Balloons and Weights: Integer Subtraction in Context

Integer addition and subtraction entail significant conceptual shifts for many students, and teachers often offer rules intended to help mitigate this challenge. When these rules are not connected to sense making, a misremembered rule can function as a barrier to student learning. In this article, the authors highlight the work of an expert teacher who leveraged context as a resource for student sense making about integer subtraction. The authors highlight her use of zero pairs as a content-specific instructional strategy for teaching integer subtraction. Additionally, the authors illustrate how this teacher supported students through the two non-content-specific instructional practices of supporting connection and engagement between student context and the mathematics learning environment and attending to mathematical language. These practices have been related to more equitable learning outcomes among students from historically marginalized groups.