Christmas WS's!In her weekly guest blog post, Joanne is bringing us a review of Shel Silverstein – the mathematical poet. It comes in two parts and here’s the first part.
By Joanne Arcand
Shel Silverstein is best known for his collection of tongue in cheek, and sometimes just silly poems. He is the author of one of my favorite books: The Giving Tree and his book “A Light in the Attic” is the first place I look for a short, introductory poem. Like this one, found on page 77:
SHAPES
A square was sitting quietly
Outside his rectangular shack
When a triangle came down – kerplunk! -
And struck him in the back.
“I must go to the hospital,”
Cried the wounded square,
So a passing rolling circle
Picked him up and took him there.
We don’t often think of poetry as being an introduction to mathematics, but the rhyming patterns, the rhythm, and even the pattern of hard and soft consonants in a poem can serve as a great warm up to math talks.
What do you think an illustration for the shapes poem would look like?
Why can the circle roll by, but the square has to ‘sit quietly’?
What shapes do you think they will run into at the hospital?
Where did the triangle come from?
Shel Silverstein died in 1999, and many of his poems reflect the mood of individuality from the 1970’s. While I’m not sure he intended his poems to be homages to students trying to reach their full potential, some of them read like afterschool specials. Click on this link and read the story.
The Missing Piece and the Big O is actually not a story meant for late night TV. It’s a parable in believing in yourself and taking risks. A wedge lies on the ground while it waits for a shape in which it will fit perfectly. Along the way, it learns that surface dressing or flashy signs won’t help it find a match (there’s a moral for dating practices in there somewhere), and that sometimes the shape might have qualities other that an appropriate sized hole that make it a poor choice (such as it’s inability to roll).
In the end, a circle suggests that if he started to roll, perhaps his corners would wear down and it would get easier. Slowly at first, the wedge begins to move. Eventually, the corners do wear down and it becomes an elliptical type shape bounding across the page.
More about Mr Silverstein from Joanne tomorrow when we bring you part two of this blog post.
Joanne Arcand is trying to juggle her role as a math teacher with her other life as mom of twin boys. She lives in Oakville, Ontario.
