This lesson shows how to write an addition statement up to 5 by counting groups of objects, placing them in order, and connecting them with a plus sign and an equal sign to form a complete number sentence.
What Does It Mean to Write an Addition Statement?
An addition statement (also called an addition sentence) is a short line of numbers and symbols that tells the story of two groups being put together. Up to 5, every number in the statement, both parts and the total, must be no bigger than 5. Before writing the statement, a child usually starts by combining objects into one big group and counting them, and then translates that picture into numbers.
A complete addition statement always has the same three pieces in the same order: the first number, a plus sign, the second number, an equal sign, and the total. For example, \( 2 + 3 = 5 \) says "2 objects and 3 objects together make 5 objects."
The Parts of an Addition Statement
It helps to know what each part of the statement is called before writing one:
Addends — the two numbers being joined (the parts).
Plus sign ( \( + \) ) — shows the parts are being combined.
Equal sign ( \( = \) ) — shows what comes next is the total.
Sum — the total number of objects once both groups are joined.
So the pattern is: addend \( + \) addend \( = \) sum. This is the same idea used when adding with digits up to 5, except here the focus is on writing the whole sentence correctly from a picture rather than just finding the answer.
Steps for Writing an Addition Statement from a Picture
Follow these steps every time:
Look at the picture and find the two separate groups.
Count the objects in the first group and write that number.
Write a plus sign after it.
Count the objects in the second group and write that number.
Write an equal sign.
Count every object in the picture altogether and write that total.
Worked Example: 2 Stars and 3 Stars
Look at the two groups of stars below.
Two groups of stars combine to make an addition statement, 2 plus 3 equals 5.
Group 1 has 2 stars, so the first number is 2. Group 2 has 3 stars, so the second number is 3. Counting every star together gives 5, so the finished statement is \( 2 + 3 = 5 \).
Worked Example: All Objects the Same Color
Sometimes both groups use the same kind of object, and only spacing shows where one group ends and the next begins.
A dashed line separates two groups of the same colored counters before writing 3 plus 2 equals 5.
Counting the left side first gives 3, then the right side gives 2, and the total is still 5, so this picture is written as \( 3 + 2 = 5 \). Notice that the order the groups are drawn in decides the order the numbers are written in, even though \( 2 + 3 \) and \( 3 + 2 \) both give the same sum.
Checking the Statement Makes Sense
Once a statement is written, it is worth checking it against the picture one more time: does the first number match the first group, does the second number match the second group, and does the sum match the total count? This habit helps avoid mixing up the order of the addends. Once writing statements up to 5 feels comfortable, the next step is often completing an addition statement where one of the numbers is already missing and needs to be found.