Mathematics & Poetry
Summary of article: “Artist Interview: JoAnne Growney”
This article outlines an interview and discussions with JoAnne Growney, a mathematician and poet at the 2017 Bridges conference. JoAnne shared her life story and journey of creating and passion for the intersection of poetry and mathematics. Throughout this article JoAnne shares her experiences as a student, professor, and student, again later in life, with poetry.
Stop 1
JoAnne reflects on her experiences as a student. One of the experiences she describes is how she learned from one of her teachers that, “you can learn from everything that you do” (Glaz, 2017, p. 248). This came from a reflection of one of her past teachers that left a lasting impact on her life. When I first read the topic for this week, poetry and mathematics, I found myself wondering how the two could be related. Just like JoAnne learned, we need to make connections to help students make this same realization. I love the idea of having students look for mathematical connections within poetry and helping them see that we can learn from everything we do.
Stop 2
“The ideal poem for me is one that is correct mathematically in the use of terms. Yet, the person who doesn’t know the mathematical term finds it a piece of art as well” (Glaz, 2019, p. 254). This quote left me wondering how we can provide our students opportunities to see the piece of art in poetry without looking for the mathematics embedded, then having them use the same process to find the mathematical connections.
Exploration of Mathematical Task
This week I decided to create a poem using the format of a Braided Bellringing PH4 poem for mathematical exploration. When I first read the description of how to create a poem using this format, I thought it would be easy. As I began to select words to intertwine to create my poem, I found that the words didn’t create any meaning. I then decided to use a quote that I love about mathematics that I often share with students. I wondered what would happen if I used this line to create a PH4 poem instead. Using the quote, “Mathematics is a journey not a destination,” I created the following Braided Bellringing PH4 poem:
Journey through Mathematics
Mathematics is a journey not a destination.
Is a journey Mathematics? a destination not.
Is a journey a destination? Mathematics not.
A destination is a journey, not Mathematics.
A destination not. Is a journey Mathematics?
Not a destination. Mathematics is a journey.
Not Mathematics. A destination is a journey.
Mathematics not. Is a journey, a destination?
Mathematics is a journey not a destination.
After immersing myself in this week’s course content, I am left wondering:
How can primary students explore the connections between poetry and mathematics?
References
Glaz, S. (2019). Artist interview: JoAnne Growney. Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 13(3),
I agree with your thoughts on helping students find connections between math and other areas of life, such as poetry. I will say though, that sometimes it's easier said than done. I would need to work closely with a colleague (perhaps an English teacher!) who is passionate about poetry, in order to select poems that are a good fit for my students. I really struggle to find the beauty in poetry and it's easy for me to be dismissive of it as an art form. Making this a cross-curricular effort however, would not only be a great collaboration opportunity, but also provide students with "experts" in both fields who can provide different perspectives and meaning within the same piece.
ReplyDeleteYour final question made me think about Dr. Seuss. Not sure it counts as poetry, but I know my children loved how his work rhymed when they were younger. It's also often written in verses or couplets, so kind of looks like a poem anyways. Maybe they could start by counting the syllables, or the number of times a word appears? I've never taught primary so I'm a little out of my element here.
Loved your PH4 poem by the way! Great use of punctuation to bring different meaning to each line.
Hi Cassidy,
ReplyDeleteI was feeling the the PH4 structure did not support meaning but after reading yours I see that it depends on the words you choose. I LOVE your PH4 poem. It is so appropriate to our course of study and I feel every line has meaning exploring the statement in a different way. I imagine it as someone's internal monologue as they search for meaning. Nicely done.
To your question - I feel the most appropriate application for primary students is rhythm, rhyme and form (pattern) perhaps through shared reading or word play games. Most of my students are still learning the language and the alphabetic code (in a second language) so reading for conceptual meaning would be a stretch.