"I chose to use the standard algorithm as my strategy to solve the problem."

At the beginning of this year, I was in the copy room just copying away when one of my third grade colleagues sprinted into the room to share her astonishment!  She was so impressed that the students that entered her room for the 2014-2015 had a pocketful of strategies that they could successfully use and explain, when solving both addition and subtraction problems.  She said that when the student said, "I chose to use the standard algorithm as my strategy to solve the problem," she nearly fell over! 

I don't know about you, but when I was seven or eight years old, if I heard the word algorithm, I might have thought it was a horrible disease (and by the way my mom was a high school math teacher)! I would've had no clue what this word meant! Now a days, the students are not only exposed to the standard algorithm, but prior to, are taught several other strategies to help them solve problems. Out of the nine standards under Numbers and Operations in Base Ten, four of them are focused on teaching strategies. One of the approaches to solving problems, is the use of an open number line. 

When using an open number line, the students are asked to write the bigger number on the number line. They then have to look at the smaller number to see what to add or subtract.  Next, they have to make jumps on the number line to represent tens and hops on the line to represent ones.  Finally, they land on the sum or the difference. 
For example, if the problem was 62-17, they would write 62 on the number line (to the right of the line because they are subtracting).  They would draw one jump and 7 hops back (to represent 17).  The difference is 45.
Check out them practicing this strategy below.