Celebrating our mathematical thinking

Sharing Math Stories

What is the sum of the first 100 odd numbers? See Big Math Ideas.
Song based on comments by elementary school teacher candidates exploring problems such as these and sharing their thinking with family and friends.
Written by George Gadanidis. Performed by Ian Parliament and Ryan Casselman.
get the mp3 file

When I shared my thinking
With a co-worker in depth
I understood the solution
More thoroughly myself

My husband and me
Patterns we brainstormed
With the story and videos
A simple solution formed

My Mom is not fond of math
But she wanted more
The story caught her interest
These ideas appeal to young and old

My family had varied strategies
Dad looked for a formula to tweak
Mom used a graph to simplify
Everyone is unique

My boyfriend acted cool
Math is easy to him
But I saw the glimmer of excitement
As a solution reached his mind's brim

I've been solving math problems
That might seem really tough
Like the first 100 odd numbers
How do I find their sum?

I've been reading math stories
Seeing videos of grade 2s and 3s
Sharing ideas and singing songs
Exploring the same problems as me

My brother-in-law was shocked
He was in disbelief
No way can grade twos
Do complex math like this

My sister said kids will hate it
Problems scare them away
Until I shared some cool teaching tools
And math came to play

My son thought the story was fun
And really enjoyed the songs
He showed me yet again
To what he best responds

My boyfriend thought it was neat
That math can be seen and heard
Like chocolate odd numbers
Come to life in a song

My fiancé made the comment
How important it must be
To portray our love for math
For every child to see

I've been solving math problems
That might seem really tough
Like the first 100 odd numbers
How do I find their sum?

I've been reading math stories
Seeing videos of grade 2s and 3s
Sharing ideas and singing songs
Exploring the same problems as me