Second graders' use of schematic drawings in solving addition and subtraction word problems.

Teachers successfully helped second graders learn to use schematic drawings to solve a wide range of addition and subtraction word problems containing three-digit numbers. Children demonstrated considerable competence in identifying the underlying situational structure of the problem as a Change, Put Together, or Compare problem, in writing the two numbers given in the problem in their proper locations in the drawing, and in determining whether to add or subtract the two known numbers. Performance varied by mathematics achievement, with almost all high- and high/average-achieving children choosing the correct solution strategy for almost all kinds of problems and two-thirds of the average-achieving children doing so on two-thirds of the problems. Most drawings represented the problem situation, but some seemed rather to represent the solution procedure. Children did not seem to use a part-part-whole schema to solve Change or Compare problems, and many children represented Put Together: Missing Part problems with Compare drawings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)