Combining things

To grasp the idea of addition, think of it as putting together groups of items. For example, if you have 2 apples and a friend gives you 3 more apples, you can find out how many apples you have in total by combining the quantities:

In this case, you started with 2 apples, and by adding 3 apples, you combined the two quantities to get a total of 5 apples.

Here is another example. You have 2 Lego bricks, and your friend gives you 1 Lego brick. How many do you have in total now?

You can find the total by counting your fingers. In this case, You started with 2 Lego bricks, and you added 1 Lego brick, you should end up with 3 Lego bricks!

The Plus Sign

The plus sign looks like the letter X standing on its toes:

It is a special sign that means adding things together. So instead of writing “2 plus 1” or “2 add 1”, you can simply write 2 + 1, and it means the same thing!

Seeing Addition In Action

One of the most helpful tools actually belongs to you – your fingers! You can use your fingers to find the total of an addition. For example, to find 3 + 1, you can:

•  Hold up 3 fingers
• Now hold up 1 more finger
• Count all of your fingers you are holding up: 1, 2, 3, 4!

This means 3 + 1 is 4!