What Teaching Moves Support Young Children's In-the-Moment Ability to Solve Simple Addition and Subtraction Problems?

• In Event: Supporting Early Learning in Mathematics

Abstract

Several teaching moves are theorized, or have been reported, to support young children’s understanding of addition and subtraction, including a number path, directly modeling addition and subtraction, using mathematical symbols, and modifying problem difficulty. Less clear are the ways in which teachers can employ these moves to support their students’ in-the-moment understanding of simple arithmetic. We address the following questions: (1) How often did various teaching moves appear to overlap with students’ accuracy when solving simple addition and subtraction problems? (2) How did these teaching moves appear to support students’ accuracy? We use time-lag analyses to answer the first question and qualitative excerpts to address the second question. We conclude by discussing implications for including arithmetic in early childhood instruction.

Authors

• Holland Windels Banse, University of Alabama

• Douglas H. Clements, University of Denver

• Crystal A Day-Hess, University of Denver

• Julie Sarama, University of Denver