| Scope and method of study. Twenty-four second grade students in a rural Oklahoma community reported their images in response to listening to a traditional folktale. Students solved mathematical word problems based on the story and reported their problem-solving process. Three different types of word problems were used: addition, more than attribute change, and subtraction. Triangulation was used to determine if their images were among the strategies used to solve the word problems. The students drew pictures from the story. Their art work was analyzed for spatial sense and problem solving.;Findings and conclusions. Most, but not all, seven- and eight-year-old children were able to generate images in response to listening to a storyteller tell a traditional folktale. Students who were the most capable of generating images also displayed the most capabilities for solving mathematical word problems and used their images in the solving process. In contrast, those who were unable to create images were also unable to solve the mathematical word problems. There appears to be a connection between one's ability to generate images and her or his ability to solve mathematical word problems. |
