Music and Math
I'm a huge proponent of integrating projects and activities into all subject areas that play on students' multiple intelligences. Howard Garner lists 8 intelligences - linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Recently he has also added naturalist to the list.
I like to incorporate music into my math lessons. Most of the time this is just through listening to a song that relates to our topic of study. Most of the time the students also get the lyrics to follow along with and glue in their binder. Then I will refer back to parts of the song through the year when reviewing concepts ("Slip to the side, and look for a 5." --> part of a song on rounding). Joe Crone has some of my favorite songs for the upper elementary students. I use many of his songs because they are found free on KidsKnowIt Network with lyrics found on Songs for Teaching.
This previous year instead of just listening to the song and providing the lyrics we made our own music video for "Geometry Park"! I broke the class into groups responsible for creating props and acting out their specific verse or chorus. It took a couple days to gather materials and practice - ideally students wouldn't need the lyrics to sing their part of the song. This was a great opportunity for students to work in teams and provide repetition on basic geometry vocabulary that they struggled on.
The sound didn't pick up the best on the video but here is the final product...
Try these Joe Crone songs...
Math Songs -
Slip to the Side
Geometry Park
Fraction Rock
Language Arts -
Language Police
Geography -
Punk Rock States
Province Rap
How do you use music in your classroom??
I like to incorporate music into my math lessons. Most of the time this is just through listening to a song that relates to our topic of study. Most of the time the students also get the lyrics to follow along with and glue in their binder. Then I will refer back to parts of the song through the year when reviewing concepts ("Slip to the side, and look for a 5." --> part of a song on rounding). Joe Crone has some of my favorite songs for the upper elementary students. I use many of his songs because they are found free on KidsKnowIt Network with lyrics found on Songs for Teaching.
This previous year instead of just listening to the song and providing the lyrics we made our own music video for "Geometry Park"! I broke the class into groups responsible for creating props and acting out their specific verse or chorus. It took a couple days to gather materials and practice - ideally students wouldn't need the lyrics to sing their part of the song. This was a great opportunity for students to work in teams and provide repetition on basic geometry vocabulary that they struggled on.
The sound didn't pick up the best on the video but here is the final product...
Try these Joe Crone songs...
Math Songs -
Slip to the Side
Geometry Park
Fraction Rock
Language Arts -
Language Police
Geography -
Punk Rock States
Province Rap
How do you use music in your classroom??
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