Math Math Baby

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“Math Math Baby” is a collaborative effort done by myself and three colleagues in teacher's college, that replaces the lyrics of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby with concepts from the grade 6 math curriculum. Given the length of the song and necessity to create rhymes, we decided to focus on several concepts. These concepts included shapes (2D and 3D), measurement, graphing, operations, numeracy (fractions, decimals and whole numbers) and problem solving strategies. Each verse reviews two or three of these concepts. It is our hope that this song and performance would serve to convince students that math can be fun, and that any subject can come alive. The song could be played as a transition for math class or as part of a lesson to help us learn and remember the different units of grade 6 math.

We felt that a rap would be an appealing medium of communication, and appropriate for an older elementary school audience. Many Grade 6 students are in the process of maturing, and sometimes find certain types of songs too childish or ‘lame’. This rap provides entertainment, a means to be motivated by math and a review of mathematical concepts all in one. “Math Math Baby” uses mathematical terms while integrating pop culture making it more appealing to youth. In the United States mathematics teacher Alex Kajitani began to use math raps as a teaching strategy and saw a growth in his students’ enthusiasm and engagement for math (http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev161_a.shtml). It is our hope that “Math Math Baby” will facilitate that sort of learning.

This rap connects to other subjects such as music and literacy. Students learn about beat and rhythm in music class and about poetry in language class. Raps can easily incorporate all types of poetry. Students could potentially study this piece as a poem, count the beats (or syllables) in each verse/line, or create their own rhythm and beats to fit the song. This song could also be used to incorporate math with drama and dance as students could act out their own interpretations of the rap. “Math Math Baby” could also be used as a model to help students write their own shorter math raps. If this activity was implemented at the end of the year, students could choose from any of the units covered in class to create the rap. They could then perform their rap and watch those of their classmates. This would, in effect, have students reviewing various math concepts before leaving for summer vacation.


Math Math Baby

All right stop!
Calculate and listen
Crosstown’s back with a brand new equation
Measuring volume and area
Rectangles causing a hysteria
What is the answer?
Yo, I don’t know
Length times width yo, now you know
Becoming a math wiz ain’t that hard to imagine

Follow our advice and plug the numbers in

Graphs
Graphing data like crazy
Circle, picto, bar, stem n’ leaf, baby
Survey, gotta collect all the data
You like cats or dogs? It’s your choice, it don’t matter.
Mean it, or mode it
Don’t forget median
Awesome math queen
Any equation
Yo, we got it
Plug in the numbers let the formula solve it

Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)

Now that we’ve got your attention

Let’s talk about shapes that are three dimension
Quick to the point, to the point we’re sorting
Attributes, how many faces and naming
Pyramids cylinders cubes on a page
Diff’rent attributes don’t cause no rage
And a square with its four equal sides
That is a rectangle you know we don’t lie
Patterning numbers and shapes
It’s super easy like a bunch of grapes
Add, subtract and multiply
Don’t forget to divide.
Double-checked?
Yeah, I’m so fly
Fractions, they come in three different types
Proper, improper and them mixed numbers s’all right.

Convertin’ them to decimals all day and night.
Makes it easier to be right
Putting them in order is no problem now
Let us do it up and then take a bow.
We can solve it in our head,
Or use a calculator until it’s dead.
We can estimate the answer,
Use manipulatives, or draw it out if we prefer.
Any equation
Yo, we got it
Plug in the numbers let the formula solve it

Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)

Take note, ‘cause we’re all level four students
Multiplying, dividing, and writing down quotients
Estimate, a quick and easy check
A way to ensure your answers make sense
Seems like a silly extra step,
But it can save you in the end, don’t fret
Decimals and fractions
And can’t forget percentages
We got it right, we can’t deny we know it 　　
Many different ways to solve a problem
Guess n’ check and pictures, so fast
I got this in the bag
The test will be a breeze

And I don’t mean to brag
Level four plus and I don’t need to cheat
Magnetized by these problems, movin’ to the beat
Any equation
Yo, we’ll solve it
Plug in the numbers let the formula solve it

Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)
Math Math baby (Equations)

Hey class, let’s do mathematics!
Number crunching love

Math Math baby
Equate, equate
Math math baby
Equate, equate
Math math baby
Equate, equate
Math math baby
Equate, equate

Below are the mp3 link, and a clip of me singing this to a grade 5 class sans accompaniment. Enjoy!


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