Enhancement of Addition-Subtraction Skills of Grade 4 Learners in Lingaten II District of Pangasinan I Through Mathematics Short Story Reading Strategy

Abstract

Mathematics is an essential subject in the elementary curriculum to develop logical reasoning, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills of the learners.  Though it is vital, most grade 4 learners in the Lingayen II District of Pangasinan I keep on struggling with addition and subtraction as foundational operations. This research determined the effectiveness of the Reading Short Mathematics Stories Strategy to enhance the addition and subtraction skills of Grade 4 learners. This study anchored and applied several relevant theories that served as the foundation for the investigation, including Piaget’s Constructivist Learning Theory, Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory, and the Multisensory Learning Approach. It used a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design. A total of 292 grade 4 learners enrolled for SY 2025-2026 participated in this study. The 15-item Pretest and posttest with both multiple-choice and problem-solving questions enclosed in short Mathematics 4 stories were administered to assess the skills of the learners. The mean scores and the paired sample t-test were employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that the addition and subtraction skills of the grade 4 learners in the pretest were described as Level 2-Developing and increased to Level 3-Approaching Proficiency in the posttest. The t-test showed a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores. Therefore, a School-based Training Workshop on Contextualized Mathematics Short Stories Reading Materials was proposed.