Multiplication songs

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Archive : 2001 : November : 27

Multiplication songs
By Elaine

We made up our own songs for skip counting. We found the recorded ones were not just what we were looking for. Kids love making up their own because of the ownership thing, I think they buy into singing (and therefore learning
the facts) the songs faster.
0s = You know that song -- Two and two are four. Four and four are eight. Eight and eight are sixteen? Well, I do a silly version of that song for zero. Zero times zero is zero. Zero times one is . . . zero. Zero times two is . . . zero. Zero times three is . . . . zero. Zero times four is zero. (Get it?)
3s = "This Land is Your Land"(I

think I got this one out of a multiplication book -- we did not make it up.)

4s = "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24; 28, 32, 26, 40, With a four here and four there, here a four, there a four, everywhere a four, four; 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 ... (etc.)

5s (no song -- already very familiar)

6s = "Barney Song" -- I love you, you love me! We're a happy family. . . -- 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36, 42, 48, 54, 60 (kind of have to make 60 fit), 66, 72. (Kids love to hate this song!)

7s = "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain"
(Sing it southern and slow -- really drag it out -- to start on verse one, then fast and furiously on the second verse.) Seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-five, forty-two, forty-nine, fifty-six, sixty-three --------(hold the 63 for empahsis and let the note go up on the end -- hold it . . .) (Then start again and drag out the 7) SSSSSSSeeeeeeevvvvvvveeeeeeennnnnnn, (then as fast as you can possibly go) 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63 -- Ye haw! (My kids laugh at me and say Ye haw is not how you say it, but it's the only way I know how! If you are from Texas, maybe you can help me with this one!!!!! This seven's song is one of our favorites.)

8s = "Rock Around the Clock" 8, 16, 24, 32, 40 -- We're gonna rock around the eights tonight. We're gonna rock, rock, rock until the broad daylight. We're gonna rock, gonna rock around the clock tonight. 48, 56, 64, 72 -- We're gonna rock around the eights tonight. We're gonna rock, rock, rock until the broad daylight. We're gonna rock, gonna rock around the clock tonight. (We actually dance to this one.

9s = "Addams Family" Da, da, da, dum . . . Da, da, da, dum . . . da, da, da, dum, da, da, da, dum, da, da, da, dum . . . 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81 . . . da, da, da, dum . . . (I think you get the picture! This our other favorite!)

I ham these songs up when we sing them and kids laugh and act silly, but they remember them. Today, we were doing long division. I asked a student (who has lots of trouble with math) how many sets of 3 there were in 8. After a bit of thought and someone saying 2 under there breath, she said 2. I asked her how she knew; was it because someone else had said it? She said, "No." When I asked how she knew she said, "Well, 3, 6, 9. It has to be 2 because 3 is 9 and that's too going too far." All I can say is, "YE HAW!"

Enjoy the songs, but don't be afraid to make up your own. The kids can be very creative. (Three years ago, the 9s song materialized as a result group assignment, and the 8s (which we had been singing to "Happy Birthday" - soooooo boring) was written when I challenged kids who hated the "Happy BD" version to make up a new one.

I love math!!!!!!!!!!!
Elaine