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Skills Covered

  • Add three numbers with a sum up to 20
  • Find two numbers that make 10 and add them first
  • Find a double and add it first
  • Add numbers in any order
  • Choose a ten or a double
  • Find a missing number in a sum of three

How to Use This Pack

Five pages on adding three numbers, where the order you add in makes the work easy. Page 1 shows three dot cards: students circle the two that make 10, add them, then add the third (6 + 3 + 4: 6 + 4 = 10, 10 + 3 = 13). Page 2 does the same with numbers only, and the pair that makes 10 is not always side by side. Page 3 shows three dice with a double: add the double first (4 + 4 + 3: 8 + 3 = 11). Page 4 mixes the two: students decide whether the helpful pair makes a ten or a double, circle the pair, and add. Page 5 turns it around: find the missing number in 6 + __ + 4 = 15 by making the ten first. Each page starts with a worked example.

In the Classroom

Before page 1, deal three cards from a deck (aces to nines) and ask, "Which two would you add first? Why?" Let students argue for a ten or a double. Show that adding in a different order gives the same sum by adding the same three numbers two ways on the board.

At Home

Roll three dice and add them. Ask your child which two to add first and why. Look for a double or two numbers that make 10, then add the last number on.

Tips for Success

  • You can add three numbers in any order
  • Look for two numbers that make 10 first
  • No ten? Look for a double
  • Add the pair, then add the number that is left
  • Check by adding in a different order

Common Core Standards Alignment

This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:

  • K.OA.A.4 For a number from 1 to 9, find the partner that adds with it to 10, and show it in a picture or number sentence.
  • 1.OA.A.2 Solve story problems where three numbers are added together for a total of 20 or less.
  • 1.OA.B.3 Use the order and grouping rules of addition as shortcuts, for example knowing 5 + 9 gives the same answer as 9 + 5.
  • 1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract to 20, working fluently within 10, with strategies like counting on, making ten, fact families and doubles plus one.
  • 1.OA.D.8 Solve for the missing number in adding or subtracting equations like 9 + ? = 15 or ? - 4 = 6.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Adding Three Numbers

1st Grade

A 5-page 1st grade pack for adding three numbers with a sum up to 20 by looking for a ten or a double first. Circle the two dot cards that make 10 and add them first, then do the same with numbers alone. Find the double on three dice (4 + 4 + 3: 8 + 3 = 11). Decide whether to make a ten or use a double, circle that pair and add. Last, find the missing number in sums like 6 + __ + 4 = 15. Every page comes in color and in black and white. Answer keys included.

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What’s Included

  • 5 worksheets in color and in black and white, with answer keys (15 pages)
  • Make a ten first with dot cards and with numbers
  • Find the double first with dice
  • Ten or double, and missing numbers in sums of three
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