Music & Math

I love using songs in my math classes.  Do they drive my students crazy?  Sure...but I also caught them singing them quietly during our state testing and they said, "Hey, those really work!"  The key is to sing them and have fun with the kids.  When learning a new song/skill I have the words in my Smart board presentation every few slides or so and I make sure to sing along with the kids.  We've even been known to sing them in the cafeteria or even once we've lined up after recess.  The kids love the fraction cadence and love to lead it for the teacher if they have a copy of the words or have memorized it.  I also don't tell the kids but do random "pop quizzes" the first few days songs are learned.  Whoever can sing them without looking earns a treat!   I'm not sure who wrote the original versions of the songs but I'm very grateful they did!

Rounding

Find the place value and circle that digit

Move to the right and underline, get it

0-4 circle stays the same

5-9 add one is the game

Now flex your muscles, like a hero

Digits to the right turn to a zero

All other digits remain the same.

Yo, you're a winner in the rounding game.  

Fractions

Adding and subtracting is plain to see,
you match the bottoms perfectly.

Multiplying fractions is no big problem,
it's the top times the top, and bottom times the bottom.

Dividing Fractions is easy as pie,
just flip the second fraction and multiply!

Fraction Cadence (For most lines the teacher should say it first and the kids should repeat it after the teacher, one line at a time)

**This is one of our favorites!

I don't know what you've been told (kids repeat)
Fractions are the way to go (kids repeat)
Fractions, fractions, don't you know (kids repeat)
Each operation has a different flow (kids repeat)


Sound off (teacher says)   7/8 (kids say)
Knock it on down (teacher says)  3/4 (kids say)
All the way down (teacher says)  5/8, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 1/4! (kids say)



Adding and subtracting are so cool
It’s quite easy, here’s the rule
Change the denominators so they match
Then add the numerators, that’s the catch


Sound off, 7/8
Knock it on down , 3/4
All the way down, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 1/4!


Multiplication rules, we can name
The denominators aren’t the same
Multiply the tops and then the bottoms
Simplify and then you got ‘em!


Sound off, 7/8
Knock it on down , 3/4
All the way down, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 1/4!


Dividing fractions, that’s the test
It’s more confusing than the rest
We don’t divide we multiply
By the reciprocal, and that’s no lie!


Sound off, 7/8
Knock it on down , 3/4
All the way down, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, ooh rah!

Mean, Median, Mode

Mode shows up the most,

Average is the mean,

Median, median, median, median,

a number in between

Mean, Median, Mode, and Range  **Another FAVORITE!

Mean is just an average, average, average,

Mean is just an average, you add and then divide

Median is in the middle (we clap our hands to demonstrate middle), in the middle, in the middle,

Median is in the middle and never left or right (we shake our heads no and put our left hand up and then our right hand when we say the corresponding word)

We see the mode all around, all around, all around,

we see the mode all around, it shows up lots of times

(For this one we either make a circle with our finger in the air, or we make glasses with our thumb and pointer and circle around from the waist up.....this gets you VERY dizzy at times!)

Range is the difference from least to greatest, least to greatest, least to greatest

Range is the difference from least to greatest, subtract the low from the high.  

(Squat down for "least" and stand up for "greatest".  Also squat for "low" and stand for "high")