Math strategy RDW II ~ ridiculous drawings work

Just when I begin to think that I'm a somewhat competent educator, I am immediately humbled. My 4th graders were engaged in a competitive math quiz where they were suppose to implement the RDW strategy of read, draw, write. While not exactly full-board cheating, I did encourage my students to draw something. "Worse case scenario," I said, glancing at the door to make sure my math specialist wasn't lurking nearby, "slap in a place value chart." Satisfied that I had done all I could to ensure their success, I set the two-minute timer and watched as they fought their way through a multi-step word problem to determine the total number of burgers cooked during an event. With twenty seconds left on the clock, my heart sank as I watched one of my little darlings put the finishing touches on her illuminating math picture...penciling in the sesame seeds across the top of her hamburger bun. Well, I reasoned, it is a picture and who knows, maybe this academic competition includes a "Most Artistic Rendering of a Math Word Problem" category. As for me and my supposed teaching skills...you know what they say...back to the drawing board.