The equals sign represents that the quantities or expressions on its two sides have the same value, not that the answer must come after it. Within addition and subtraction situations using numbers up to 20, this understanding supports interpreting and writing equations in varied forms, such as , , and , while distinguishing true and false equations; symbolic manipulation with variables and more general algebraic equivalence are beyond this scope.
The equals sign, , means “has the same value as.” It does not mean that the answer must come after it.
Look at both sides of the equals sign and find each side’s value.
Both sides equal , so the equation is true:
The equals sign tells us that the two sides have the same value.
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