Practice

Counting On

Counting on is when we think of the first addend in our heads and count up using the second addend. Let’s try using this strategy to help us add 6 + 5. We want the larger addend to go first; for us, the larger addend is 6!

6 + 5 = ___

Let’s put 6 in our heads and count on 5 using the pictures of Olivia’s books. Click the red books to count on!

6 + 5 = 11! Will we get the same answer if we use other strategies? Let’s find out!

Doubles

To use the doubles strategy of addition, we need a doubles addition fact! That means we are looking for two addends that are the same number, like 3 + 3 or 7 + 7.

Is our addition sentence, 6 + 5, a doubles fact? No, it looks like it is close to a doubles fact we know, but it isn’t a doubles fact. What does this mean? For this addition problem, we can’t use the doubles strategy. Let’s try another strategy and see if it works

Near doubles

Near doubles means almost a doubles addition fact. We can use this strategy when one addend is almost the same as the other. This works for 6 + 5, because 6 is almost 5! Let’s try it out!

Remember, we are looking for a doubles fact to help us add. We know that 6 is almost 5. We could say 6 is like 5 and 1 together, so let’s write it as 5 + 1! Instead of the addition sentence reading 5 + 1 + 5, let’s switch the 1 and 5 so that we can clearly see the doubles fact. Do you see the doubles fact? Click on the books to see the addition sentence change to use near doubles!

We know that 5 + 5 is a doubles fact; it equals 10! Now we can add on one more.

1 + 5 + 5 =        

1 + 10 =    11   

Wow! We got 11 again! We have one more strategy to try!

Ten Frames

A ten frame uses boxes and dots (or counters) to help us see our two addends. A full ten frame equals 10. We already know that 6 + 5 = 11, which is bigger than 10. We will need to use two ten frames to fill in our two addends.

Question: There are already 6 red dots in the ten frame below. These dots represent our first addend. The yellow dots will represent the second addend, 5. You can click the boxes to fill in the remaining yellow dots on the first and second ten frame. Remember to start where the red dots end and to fill in the next ten frame to the first box on the top row!