We don't always have to rely on "two negatives make a positive" when subtracting negatives. Here's another way to think about it.

Or we can think about the distance meaning of subtraction and use reasoning: 2-(4) is quite literally how far apart are -2 and -4

Yep! I teach it with chips and the number line.

Another way to think about this is that a negative quantity is like a debt, so if you have a debt of $2, and someone takes that away, that makes you better off by $2

I love this. This might really help my Alg 1 kids who still don't get it.

Thank you so much for your math videos! They always inspire me to be a better math teacher. I really want to get that T-shirt for my daughter once she master her multiplication facts!

You're welcome! I'm glad I can help.

You are amazing 🤩

Thank you!

This explanation also works quite well with the students- Since subtraction is opposite of addition, therefore subtracting an integer literally means adding its additive inverse😊 So (-6) - (-2) = (-6) + (additive inverse of -2) = (-6) + 2 = 4

This is what I do. As soon as I implemented this into my classroom, I saw student understanding of integer operations significantly increase. It’s an amazing tool! And then you can implement the same idea with algebra tiles to do things like adding/subtracting polynomials.