From: Near the Window Tree

POETRY BREAK # 2
A poem written by an NCTE Award winning poet

Introduction:

Karla Kuskin was the third winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She has more than 50 books of poetry and prose to her credit. She says it is a big problem to stop thinking and writing everything in verse. We also have big problems stopping and thinking when learning multiplication facts. Listen to the following poem and see how you can relate to it.

From:
Near the Window Tree
Karla Kuskin

Is six times one a lot of fun?
Or eight times two?
Perhaps for you.
But five times three
Unhinges me,
While six and seven and eight times eight
Put me in an awful state
And four and six and nine times nine
Make me want to cry and whine
So when I get to twelve times ten
I begin to wonder when
I can take a vacation from multiplication
And go out
And start playing again.

[from MARVELOUS MATH A BOOK OF POEMS, (Simon & Schuster, 1997)]

Extensions:

After the students take the timed test and following the reading of the poem share your “difficult fact” with your students. When I begin testing my students I always tell them that 7X8 is my “difficult” fact and we talk about facts that they have trouble with. I ask them to help their peers with suggestions for memorizing the troublesome facts.

The students could take one or two facts that they have difficulty with and put them into a poem or rhyme. Since this would be their own work the memorization of these facts would most likely be achieved. An example might be 56 7 8 takes care of the fact I hate! This can be chanted like a cheer. Put the 56 and 7 8 on the board and they will realize that 7X8=56. Putting the numbers sequentially gives a visual illustration.

These facts could be made into shape poems. Further extension, depending on the response of the class could be a rhyming book of math facts.