Place Value Nightmare...

They are getting place value when it comes to 3 digit addition, but as soon as we went into 3 digit subtraction it became a nightmare. Even though, they know they have to regroup when 3-8, they still interpret as 8-3

We played a variety of place-value games and they understood the concept of re-grouping, but when we say down to do the equations, they were so confused.

I found online manipulatives to show them on the smart board. They got it but not when it was their turn to to it.
So we tried the second strategy: breaking the problem down into smaller problems to avoid regrouping. That strategy confused them even further.

Finally, we came to the strategy where you break the numbers down into the ones, tens, and hundreds place and then re-group from there!

500-453 becomes 500 + 0 + 0
minus                    400+ 50+3

Whatever it was about that visual, they suddenly got it.

That's why its so important to have multiple strategies! You never know which one is going to be the one that works!