Andrea Colvin

EDMA 614

Classroom Connections 2

March 23, 2017

Standard Algorithms

My caseload currently consists of 2nd grade students. This year, they have been learning

the standard algorithms for addition and subtraction. I have seen them working on this in their

general education classrooms and I have been supporting them with helping them understand the

corrections to their misconceptions.

The past few weeks, I have been working with my students to have them explain numbers

in expanded form and and standard form. We use large math sheets to show numbers and they

can tell me what each is worth. With the same math mats, we have worked on counting up and

showing that only 9 of each can fit into each place. When the place is full, they need to

regroup and move to the next place.

Chapter 3 describes the teaching sequence and what the teacher should know about

algorithms. For the addition algorithm, it determines that the prerequisites to the algorithm

include students knowing expanded form, adding ones, tens, and hundreds separately, and

regrouping. I have worked on all of these concepts with my students, but they may need more

work until mastery.

I have each of my students an addition problem that did not require regrouping, they both

solved it, but they did not necessarily use the standard algorithm. I gave them a problem that

required regrouping and they both answered incorrectly.

Here are the answers they gave:

55 55

+27 +27

72 212

Both of the students paused when they got done adding the ones, I had actually reminded

them to do this step first. One of them knew to only put down the one from the answer, but then

didnt remember what to do with the ten. The other just wrote down 12 under the ones column

and left it as is. I knew that I needed to go back and solidify their understanding of place value

before correcting their errors.

These students need more practice with regrouping. The text notes that students should

understand adding with the expanded form to reinforce the place value of addition. I have taken

the students back to the place value mats. I have them first build a number and then I write down

a number to add to it. Through this process, I will connect the process that they are showing on

the mat to the algorithm so they have a conceptual understanding of why it is done.