Look at the smile faces in the circles above. There are 2 smile faces in the green circle. That is one less than the 3 smile faces in the red circle. The 3 smile faces in the red circle is one less than the 4 smile faces in the blue circle. The 4 smile faces in the blue circle is one more than the 3 smile faces in the red circle and the 3 smile faces in the red circle is one more than the 2 smile faces in the green circle. Let's use a number line to begin to understand the concept.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Let's begin with 5. If we are to find one less we would move 1 number to the left , in the direction of the smaller numbers (on this number line that would be the blue numbers). One less than 5 would then be 4. Again beginning with 5 if we are to find one more we would move 1 number to the right, in the direction of the larger numbers (on this number line that would be the red numbers). One more than 5 would then be 6. Beginning with 3 one less would be 2, one more than 3 would be 4. Beginning with 7 one less would be 6, one more than 7 would be 8. Understanding this concept will help in developing an understanding of the early process of addition and subtraction.
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