You have a pile of 2 red blocks and a pile of 3 blue blocks. You push them all together. What should you do to find the total?
ACount only the blue blocks: 1, 2, 3 — so you have 3 total
BCount all the blocks together from 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 — so you have 5 total
CCount the red blocks, then count the blue blocks separately and add them in your head
DLook at the blue pile because it has more blocks
When combining two groups, you count ALL the objects together as one big group from the start. Counting only the second group (option A) gives you the size of that group, not the total. The key action is pushing the groups together and then counting everything — that's what gives you the combined total.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
There is 1 cat and 4 dogs at the park. How many animals are there altogether?
A1 — just the cats
B4 — just the dogs
C5 — count all the animals together
D3 — because 4 take away 1 is 3
Combining groups means finding the total of everything together. You have 1 animal in one group and 4 in another. Count them all: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The total is 5. Counting only one group ignores the other group entirely, so options A and B are both wrong.
Question 3 True / False
When combining two groups of objects, you count all the objects together starting from 1.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
Yes — to find the combined total, you push both groups together and count every object, starting from 1. This is the core action of combining. You are not counting one group at a time; you are counting the single new group that results from pushing them together.
Question 4 True / False
When you push two groups together, you should count the second group starting from 1 again to find the total.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
This is the most common mistake in combining. If you have 2 blocks and add 3 more, then count the 3 new blocks as '1, 2, 3,' you'll say the total is 3 — but that's just the size of the second group, not the total. The correct approach is to count ALL the objects together from the beginning: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Question 5 Short Answer
Why is it important to count ALL the objects together when combining two groups, instead of just counting the second group?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Because counting only the second group tells you how many are in that group, not the total. Combining means finding how many there are altogether, which requires counting every object — from both groups — as one big group.
Combining is about finding the total of everything together. The first group still exists and counts toward the total; ignoring it gives you the wrong number. Pushing the groups together physically before counting helps you remember that all the objects now belong to one group, and you need to count them all.