Skill: Relate equal groups to addition

When groups have the same number of objects, you can show them with repeated addition.

Look at:

🍎🍎🍎 🍎🍎🍎 🍎🍎🍎 🍎🍎🍎

Step 1: Count the groups.
There are $4$ groups.

Step 2: Count the objects in one group.
Each group has $3$ apples.

Step 3: Add the group size once for each group.
Since there are four groups of three, write:

$$3+3+3+3$$

Step 4: Find the total.

$$3+3+3+3=12$$

So, there are 12 apples altogether.

Remember: the number of groups tells you how many numbers to add, and the number in each group tells you the value of each number. The groups must be equal. For example, groups of $3$, $3$, and $2$ are not equal groups.