Title – Introducing Math through Music

By – Sheena Carty

Primary Subject – Math

Secondary Subjects – Music

Grade Level – PK-4

Resources:

Small drum or tambourine representing the number 1. An agogo bell representing the number 2. A triangle represents 3. A wood block represents 4.

Procedure:

• Begin by telling the children the names of the instruments and letting them hear the different sounds.
• Then ask the children what number they think the drum represents; they will instinctively tell you number one and then realize the other instruments’ numbers without any help.
• Choose a child and tell them to listen to two sounds, i.e. the drum (1) and the triangle (3).
• Ask them to hit the instrument that is the sum of both numbers. They should hit the woodblock (4).
  
  
  
• After a short amount of practice, this can be done without speaking or involving numbers, so that when you hit two instruments, the children can hit the answer.

• For nursery school children:
  • Simply hit the drum and ask them to hit the instrument that matches the amount of times you strike it.
  • If you hit the drum three times, the child will work out that three is the triangle.

• For older children:
  • Use this idea for multiplication tables, subtraction, etc.
    
  • The four instruments add to ten.
  • If you hit the triangle times the woodblock – the answer is 12.
  • The child then has many options of instruments to answer with, i.e. the woodblock three times, the drum twelve times, the triangle four times and so on.

  
  

• This method takes away the need for numbers and encourages mental math, quantity analysis, different variations and sequences of numbers and also encourages and educates students musically.

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Sheena Carty

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