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fact-minute

Grades 1–5 · printable + timed

Mixed Subtraction Timed Test

Print it with the answer key on page 2, or run the timer here.

Operation
Fact range
Problems
Time limit

Subtraction · Mixed · 20 problems · 1 minute NameDateScore
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
Answer key · Subtraction · Mixed · 20 problems NameDate
  1. 1 10 − 5 5
  2. 2 21 − 12 9
  3. 3 6 − 5 1
  4. 4 20 − 12 8
  5. 5 3 − 0 3
  6. 6 8 − 3 5
  7. 7 6 − 4 2
  8. 8 5 − 5 0
  9. 9 19 − 10 9
  10. 10 4 − 0 4
  11. 11 8 − 0 8
  12. 12 8 − 1 7
  13. 13 18 − 7 11
  14. 14 10 − 9 1
  15. 15 12 − 8 4
  16. 16 14 − 8 6
  17. 17 7 − 2 5
  18. 18 13 − 4 9
  19. 19 17 − 11 6
  20. 20 18 − 8 10
0 correct of 20

Correct 0 Wrong 0 Blank 20

0:00 elapsed of 1:00

Elapsed 0s Left 60s

A timed sheet on mixed

Subtraction facts drawn across the whole 0–12 range in random order. Every problem on the sheet is drawn from that set and nothing outside it.

Choose 20, 50 or 100 problems and a limit of 1, 2 or 5 minutes, then print the sheet with its answer key on page two, or start the timer and type into the same grid. The problems are drawn again every time the page loads, so a second sheet is not a copy of the first. How the counts and limits work is on its own page, along with what a timed test does and does not measure.

Thirteen rows, with the answers

The thirteen halves — a double taken back apart, which is where mixed sheets stall.
Problem Answer
0 − 0 0
2 − 1 1
4 − 2 2
6 − 3 3
8 − 4 4
10 − 5 5
12 − 6 6
14 − 7 7
16 − 8 8
18 − 9 9
20 − 10 10
22 − 11 11
24 − 12 12

Where a mixed subtraction sheet goes wrong

A mixed subtraction sheet forces a child to alternate between three strategies — dropping to ten, taking ten and giving back, and counting backwards. Single ranges rehearse one of them; mixed measures the choosing, which is why the drop from single-range to mixed is larger in subtraction than in addition. The size of that drop is a reading of how complete the strategy list is.

Three that come up

What does mixed subtraction measure?
Which strategy the child reaches for, and how fast that choice is made.
Why is the drop bigger than in mixed addition?
Subtraction has no commutative shortcut and more competing strategies, so choosing costs more.
Are the answers ever negative on a mixed sheet?
No. Problems are generated so every result is zero or more.

What the standards and the critics actually say

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (PDF), page 19 — 2.OA.B.2 “By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.” thecorestandards.org — CCSSI_Math Standards.pdf

NCTM — Procedural Fluency in Mathematics (position statement) “Timed tests do not assess fluency and can negatively affect students, and thus should be avoided.” nctm.org — Procedural Fluency in Mathematics

youcubed — Fluency Without Fear “For about one third of students the onset of timed testing is the beginning of math anxiety.” youcubed.org — Fluency Without Fear