The effectiveness of artistic activities (performance, poetry reading and storytelling) in learning the concepts of subtraction in math lessons

The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of theatrical activities, poetry recitation, and storytelling in learning fractional concepts in the mathematics curriculum for fourth-grade elementary students. The present study is applied research with a quasi-experimental design involving three experimental groups and one control group, using a pretest-posttest approach. The statistical population includes all fourth-grade male students in Karaj during the academic year 1402-1403 (2023-2024). Using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method, 2 out of 4 districts in Karaj were selected, and 2 schools were chosen from each district. One class was randomly selected from the fourth-grade classes in each school, resulting in a total sample size of 120 students, who were then assigned to four groups (three experimental groups and one control group). . The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and one-way ANCOVA). The effectiveness of the interventions on the research components was compared using the LSD post-hoc test, with the analysis conducted using SPSS-26 software. Results The results showed that the mean posttest scores were increased compared to the pretest scores in the drama activities, poetry recitation, and storytelling groups. Furthermore, the mean posttest scores on the fraction concept were significantly higher in the experimental groups compared to the control group. Therefore, the main research hypothesis was confirmed. The results of the post-hoc test revealed that the drama activity had a greater effect compared to the poetry recitation and storytelling activities.