Thread: Math Songs

My VAK scores show I have a strong Audio angle. Which suits me because I am good at music.
I would have loved to learn songs in maths to help me remember stuff.
I am learning my 3x tables at the moment with Jack Johnson. He has this "3R's" song and he sings the 3x table in the middle of it. And EVERYONE knows how cool Jack Johnson and Curious George are :P

Here's a youtube link:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLZDbaoqC4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLZDbaoqC4[/url]

The 3x tables bit is near the end. I sing it all the time. I can nearly do the whole 3,6,9,12 thing forwards... backwards is another matter - but at leat I'm trying! hee hee


Another way to have music in your classroom is to take common classical songs and make up your own words to them. Rhyming is really good for memory help, as is alliteration.
I can STILL say in German : "I have two eggs and this is tea" - but only in a sing song voice to The Blue Danube...
Using well known classical music is good becuase people know it, though they'd never admit it, and they don't have to "learn the music" before they create the words.
Rap also works... though I can't do it, the boys are really good at it.

If questoined about the approach you are taking with maths simply fall back into the "alternative learning styles" approach. Tell them you are being pro-active with those students in class who have a AVK or AKV learning style.
You could even do the VAK test with them before you set out so you have "proof" they learn through music. There's heaps of printable ones on the web

Good luck. I'd love to be in your maths class if we got to make music and sing etc

Originally Posted by Xyphir

I can STILL say in German : "I have two eggs and this is tea" - but only in a sing song voice to The Blue Danube...

Now, THERE'S a useful phrase...almost as useful as the French phrase "La plume de ma tante est dans le jardin" (My aunt's pen is in the garden). What language teachers really need to teach us are useful phrases like "how much is this wine?" or "Where is the nearest place to get lunch?"

I'm sorry, bobobluemonkey1, I don't know any math songs for middle and high school students. I know several for kindergarten--my current favourite is "Counting Up To Twenty". Can you give me an example of what kinds of things you want to teach with the songs?

Originally Posted by bobobluemonkey1

And, second, if there were songs like this, would people be interested?

I'll ask my middle school/almost in high school son who will be home in about an hour. By "people" do you mean the students? or teachers?

I just asked my middle school/almost in high school son what he thought of math songs for high school. He gasped, laughed and then he scoffed and said, "I'd rather eat the CDs." Forgive me for saying this but I think this might be a hard sell to the students. Personally, I think it's a great idea but it would have to be done very, very carefully.

I think too, it depends on how well you get on with the students.
I know with my three junior classes - they all think I'm insane anyways, so getting them to sing in class woulnd't be too hard. We all sang "Old McDonald" to learn how to spell onomatopoeia. On. (T)omato. then "e-i-e-i-o" or rather p-o-e-i-a. Old mcDonald worked quite well because of course, all the farm sounds are onomatopoeic. And the kids feel good that they can spell a "long" word etc.
If i was going to try it with my year 12 class, they would balk.
But then... also... I think back to the mobiles we made with my year 13's in my first year. Each of them took home a mobile to hang above their bed - or wherever - to help them with their study and memory aid for Hollywood Studio System.
I really think it depends on how well you get on with the kids, and how far they are prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Google "New Math" and "Tom Lehrer". It's an oldie from the sixties.

Here's two..

[url="http://users.bentonville.k12.ar.us/rflowers/Default_files/page0002.htm"]http://users.bentonville.k12.ar.us/rflo ... ge0002.htm[/url]

[url="http://www.mscc.cc.tn.us/webs/vyoung/songs/Tables.htm"]http://www.mscc.cc.tn.us/webs/vyoung/songs/Tables.htm[/url]

Wait... for high school?

So you want math songs that explain things like variables?

I think you'll have trouble finding anything more advanced than the multiplication tables in song form.

You could always make up your own songs. Grab a basket of percussion instruments from the music room and see what the kids come up with.

Next term with mt poetry unit I'm going to get everyone to compose their own poem song. Might even do some graphic notation to shape our poems.

When we were in elementary school, our parents bought me and my brother cassette tapes which we played to learn multiplication through songs. I can still remember the tune until now! However, I am not sure whether or not middle and high school students of today would appreciate such method of learning math.