As teachers at LCHS, we do our best to cultivate well-rounded learners.  However, sometimes we cannot help but place our students in learning silos: the “math kids” versus the “English kids.”  While many students excel at both subjects, human nature suggests that not all students necessarily like both subjects.  Furthermore, the varied learning styles of students tend to lend themselves to this silo effect.  For that reason, I decided to task my students with writing math poetry.  Students were given much creative license in creating their poems (with some even producing “song lyrics”).  The purposes of the math poetry project include:

 

  • Allowing the traditional linguistic learners a chance to express math in a more language-centered format that sometimes isn’t common in a traditional math class
  • Pushing the traditional “math kids” to express math in a way that they’re not used to
  • Allowing creative students an outlet for their creativity while still expressing important ideas in mathematics

 

Hopefully you will enjoy reading some of these math poems.  I look forward to working with the English department in the future to bring more depth to this project for years to come.

 

 

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Walking to class with sleepy eyes and tired feet,

I step through the door and take a seat.

There upon the big white board,

A new challenge is issued to our horde.

Waiting impatiently to get to start,

I must try and still my heart.

I realize with a fright, it’s a terrible sight, that another Monday is upon us.

With Monday morning we know for sure,

That the infamous Unit Circle Quiz is in store.

The daunting task is as mean as a snake,

But the assignment I just can’t seem to shake,

There is no other way!

But today will be my day!

Flying through each problem I find,

The values of tan, cos, and sin.

As my confidence soars,

So do my scores.

A victory cry is heard,

No other can say a word.

I’ve defeated the mighty beast,

And the test has finally ceased.

——by Hannah Harry

 

Ode to Parabola
Shall I compare thee

to a squared plus three,

 

Your curves, your dips,

and your axis intrigue me,

 

If I could only graph you,

Then maybe you’d see,

 

I hate you will all my heart,

So please let me be.

—–by Ripley Lucas

 

Peace Wise Versus Piecewise

The white girl cannot even,

And neither can number one.

The winner is still the odd one out,

So who is to say together isn’t better than alone?

The world is divided like a fraction and my soul-

Split between two brains- left or right or wrong?

What matters more?

The process or the outcome.

Dear society, make like a piecewise function

And join together – we stand or divided we fall

Take it back to the basics –

Adding, subtracting, negative, or positive –

The choice is up to us-

Up to you,

But will you choose peace,

Or to remain in pieces?

—–by Elizabeth Ross

 

Creating such a panicked frenzy

Always seeming to be easier with the teacher.

Lost I am, lost I hope to escape.

Can someone graph this for me?

Utilizing our formulas, theories and tricks,

Learning from the best along the way.

Utopia, in my opinion, wouldn’t have Calculus.

Sin, cos, tan, you will forever be a foe.

— by Andrew Coy

 

 

Pre-Cal

Consuming me all

Conjunctions and Functions

Makes me want a concussion

Parabolas, circles and lines

Make me think it’s all a sign

To either drop out

Or keep pushing about

Finding x and Finding y

When it’s all over I just sigh

Graphing is such a pain

It literally drives me insane

Reflections, compressions and shifts

It never goes over that swift

Arithmetic and geometric

It is really just so hectic

Using a calculator is the easy way

Unfortunately at times it’s taken away

 

Mr. Craft tries to make it all better

Forrest just looks at him as a trend setter

 

I know I will make it through

For just like pi, life goes on

—– Airyl Heath

 

 

Mr. Craft taught us about functions

They are quite different than conjunctions

One input, one output

Not about 12 inches in a foot

The inverse is reverse

I think math is such a curse

F(x) and g(x)

My function machine’s named Rex-

The horizontal line test

Might be quite the best

Way to identify a function

One to one or regular

I’ll just look it up on my cellular

—– Autumn Riggs

 

Dear Math,

Why do you cry?

Asking us to find your x’s

And when we do, you ask y.

I guess my question is, why aren’t you in Texas?

They clearly lack you basic math skills.

Ya feels?

—– Hannah Bush

 

 

 

 

 

Math is a thing with graphs

That produce lots of laughs

And includes lines

That can have many signs

 

Going left and right

Like a crazy plane flight

With a x and y

That people think is nasty ole’ fish fry

 

I think differently as I love the slope

As it does give me hope

That one day as it increases

I’ll have the money to pay for leases

 

Math is good

Just like you should

Be a man

And make a graph plan

 

Inspired by Emily Dickinson

—– Tonya Atwell

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calculus, oh calculus

You curves are continuous,

Your asymptotes are limitless

I can’t seem to contrive

How I’m going to derive

The slope of this tangent line,

Of which I’ll have to find the sine

Calculus, oh calculus

There seems to be no limit

Your rates of change are infinite.

—– Jacob Cecil

 

 

 

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