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.
(Untitled)
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