Elementary Math Madness Lyrics

1. If You Love Math

If you love math and you know it clap your hands (repeat)
If you love math and you know it, then your face will surely show it.
If you love math and you know it clap your hands.
(Replace with “stomp your feet”, “shout math is fun” “don’t make a sound”, and “do all four….or try “draw a circle”, “make a triangle”, and so on)


2. Let’s count….

1,2,3,4 everybody touch the floor
5,6,7,8 lift your hands to celebrate
9,10,11,12, everybody ring a bell
13…16 make a face that’s really mean
17…20 rub your tummy if you’ve had plenty
Count backwards….
20…17 make another face that’s mean
16…13 roll your eyes like you are flirting
12…9 make a face that’s nice and kind
8…5 now it’s time for us to jive
4….1, now our counting game is done.


3. The Candy Shop

Let’s go to the candy shop, we’ll eat candy until we drop
First eat 7, then eat 4, that makes 11 now make a roar
11,10,….7,----6,5,4----3,2,1, eating candy is so much fun
uh huh, uh huh
Next eat 5, then eat 2, that makes 7 now touch your shoe
7,---6,5,4---3-2-1 eating candy is so much fun, uh-huh
(and so on….make up the problem and let the children 
think of a rhyme/motion to finish the problem)


4. The Clock Song 

It has a friendly round face and a little bitty hand
That goes around slowly and comes back again
It stops at the 12 and it rests for awhile
Then the friendly round face begins to smile.
What time is it? Together….12 o’clock
(Repeat by letting hands take different positions.)
5,10,15,20,25,30 you’re half way around
35,40,45,50,55,60 you’re all the way around
Isn’t it fun to count by 5’s, it’s so cool man alive.

5. The Place Game Song

Take me out to the place game. Take me out with my friends.
Give me a hat and a baseball glove; let me the play the game that I love.
First we throw the ball to the one’s man, he tosses off to the 10’s. When he throws to the hundreds, we’ve hit a home run and the place game ends.



6. Plus and Take Away

Let’s play the adding number game.
Here’s all you have to do.
Build blocks till you reach 10, then you start it all again
That’s how you play the adding number game,
Da, da,…
Let’s play the game of take away. 
Here’s all you have to do
Try to make your building small, till there are no blocks at all
That’s how you play the game of take away
Da da da…


7. Let’s Go to the Board

You can add em and subtract em
Multiply em and divide em at the board (repeat)
You can do most any problem at the board.
Let’s go to the board oh____(student name)
Let’s go to the board.
You can do most any problem at the board.


8. Multiply Cy

Come on Cy it’s time to multiply
Don’t be shy now give it a try.
It’s as easy as pie and that’s no lie
Come on Cy it’s time to multiply.
You grab on number, then grab another. Line em up on the right, it’s time to go further
Draw a line across the bottom, I don’t know why
Come on Cy it’s time to multiply (repeat last line)
Start with 1’s underneath times the 1’s above it
Put the answer below now don’t you just love it
If there’s not enough room then carry the 10’s
It’s not that heavy now the fun begins (repeat line)
Back to the 1’s underneath times the 10’s above it
Add what’s carried now don’t you just love it
Put the answer below better line it up straight
It’s almost time to celebrate (repeat line)
Take the 10’s below times the 1’s (second time sing 10’s) above it
Add what’s carried now don’t you just love it
Put the answer below better line it up straight
It’s almost time to celebrate (2nd time: “now it’s time to celebrate)
Now wasn’t it fun to multiply Cy? You didn’t act shy, you gave it a try.
It was as easy as pie and that’s no lie. Wasn’t it fun to multiply Cy. (repeat line)


9. The Divide Song

Refrain: You gotta divide, you gotta divide, you gotta divide your numbers. You gotta divide, you gotta divide, you gotta divide today.
Oh how I hate to divide these numbers. Oh how I wish I could play instead. Whoever invented this terrible torture (refrain)
Okay I’ll go on and bite the bullet. I’ll take the first number and put it inside a cell. And let the second number stand outside and visit…
How many times does the small go into the large one? I’ll take a good guess and put it on top the roof. I’ll multiply, then subtract to check it…
If too much remains, I’ll try a bigger number
If it goes over the top, I’ll try a smaller size
Eventually I’ll find a number that fits right…
Next I multiply, subtract, and bring down the next number.
Then continue to do what I’ve done before.
When I run out of numbers my job is over…
This wasn’t as bad as first I had imagined.
It’s almost as fun as playing a game outside.
I can’t wait to try some new numbers. I’’ pretend it’s a game and I’ll call the game divide.
I get to get up, I get to get up, I get to divide my numbers. I get to get up, I get to get up, I get to get up today.


10. The Number Line Song

Taking a walk along the number line (repeat twice)
Just taking a walk.
So long there’s no end to it; so thin there’s no width to it; so dense there’s no holes in it; just taking a walk.
Taking a walk (repeat twice)…just taking a walk


11. Long Division Rap

It’s time to divide put your fears aside
Fasten your seatbelt, let’s go for a ride
Give it a try it’s as easy as pie
Listen real closely and I’ll tell you why
You just multiply, subtract, and bring down (repeat)
Say it…multiply subtract and bring down (repeat)
Go on and do it, there’s not that much to it
Just multiply, subtract and bring down (repeat)
Do it once, then do it over again
Keep up the rhythm and you’ll always win
Just multiply, subtract, and bring down,
I said…


12. Integer Song

I N T E G E R S (repeat twice)
And that spells integers.
When you think of integers, think whole numbers (repeat twice)…And that’s our integers.
Positive and negative and even zero (repeat twice)
And that’s our integers.


13. Simplify Fractions

To simplify fractions you look for a number that
Goes into the top and also the bottom
Divide top and bottom by this special number
To get a new fraction that’s actually the same.


14. Smart at Math

Everyone is smart at math, anyone can do it
Everyone is smart at math, there isn’t that much to it.
Smart at, smart at math. Smart at, smart at math
Smart at, smart at math, anyone can do it.


15. Doing the Squares

Let’s all do our squares, they’re easy (repeat twice)
Turn on your brain, turn your calculator off, and do the squares.
1,4,9,16,25,36,49, 64…..etc. (as far as you want to go)


16.Fraction Song

Adding fractions draw a tepee (repeat)
Multiplying fractions you go straight across (repeat)
Divide reciprocate the second, multiply.



TEACHER NOTES FOR ELEMENTARY MATH MATH MADNESS
(Classroom ideas for each song)

1. If you love math

A good song to start off each class. It sets a positive tone and transitions into a math frame of mind. Teacher can add appropriate motions and noises to relate to what they are doing in class. So it might be “ if you love math…draw an equal sign (with hands they draw a triangle in the air) or a multiplication sign”. Or “if you love math…say numerator”; or “if you love math…don’t say a word” (a subtle way of getting everyone quiet) or “if you love math…whisper Archimedes”. Add your creativity to it; and let students contribute ideas for the song.


2. Let’s Count

Students make the motions as they sing the song. Let them decide what “jiving” looks like or “flirting”. Be creative if you want and change the rhyming words at the end “let out a roar” instead of “touch the floor”. Or let students add appropriate endings. Notice how this releases energy in a creative way and teaches counting at the same time. The song can be extended to counting beyond 20. Backwards counting is good, because it prepares them for subtraction.


3. Candy Shop

Similar to the counting song. Teacher makes up problems and then leaves a blank for children to shout the answer to. “First eat 7, then eat 4, that makes _______(students supply answer)”, then, of course, they all make the rhyming noise (roar). This can be presented as a drill activity or a quiz and fractions can be added for older students. Take turns and let the students make up the problems.


4. The Clock Song

Teacher is the “living clock” and students imitate gestures. Friendly round face, make a circle with your arms like a ballerina pose. Little hand, shrink one arm and use the fore finger as a pointer…then walk around the clock slowly. Big hand, extend your arm and use finger as a pointer and move around the circle more quickly. At the word “smile” create the ballerina circle again and give the biggest smile you can muster (even if you don’t feel like it). Then create different times as you sing the song, like 6:15 (little hand is pointing down, while big hand is pointing east). In the “counting by 5’s” part” both teacher and student use arm motions to walk around the imaginary clock as they sing the numbers.


5. Place Game

Draw 3 huge baseball gloves on the board and above each name them the 1’s, 10’s, 100’s. Make markers (or use pennies) with magnetic strips pasted on the back (assuming you have a magnetic board). These are the baseballs. When one is thrown it goes in the 1’s glove. More than one can be thrown at a time. But when the 1’s glove is filled with baseballs (the manufacturer says it can hold 10 at most), the 10 are tossed into the 10’s glove, where they magically become one “super baseball”, represented by one marker in the 10’s glove. Use creativity to decide what kind of marker to use for a “super baseball”. Then when the 10’s fill up with 10 super baseballs, these are tossed to the 100’s glove where they magically become “super duper baseballs” (or change the term if this sounds too dorky for you), and so on. Teacher can where a baseball cap as she sings the song. The song can be sung intermittingly during the activity.


6. Plus and Take Away

Teaches the fact that a “place” can hold only 10 blocks. Pretend you are going to put up a building with big blocks. “Roll” a number with a 6-sided die and this tells how many blocks to use. “Roll” another number and add on to the building. When the building reaches 10 stories, no more may be added (government regulations) and a new stack must begin. At a certain time the buildings are complete. It may be 3 ten-story buildings and one four-story building left over (symbols can be appropriately written on the board in “place” form). Then the game reverses. As the die is rolled, the building is dismounted. You decide what to do at the end…whether to keep rolling until the exact number that is needed is obtained or to go into “negative stories”…underground building. So if there are 3 blocks left and a 4 is rolled, what do you do?
Children can play this game with a partner using smaller blocks at their tables. Put a limit, say, of 5 rolls per person and see who owns the most buildings.


7. Let’s Go to the Board

Problems are put on the board and students line up one at a time to do them. The song is sung throughout the problem session. Teacher makes easier problems for students who tend to struggle with math, and can help out as needed. Or the teacher can put a problem on the board and when the class sings “Let’s go to the board oh_________(you call out a name)” and that person has to come forward. Teacher may want to call out the name of the student who is not paying attention or talking to a neighbor. Or an alternative idea is to let the student who is at the board, sing out the next name after they have attempted a problem. It is a good classroom “kickoff” song to do a review of the day before. Or it can be done in teams…with three problems per team.


8. Multiply Cy

Cy is a little shy kid who is afraid to multiply because he doesn’t know how. (Many students can identify with Cy). The class pulls together to nurture and encourage little Cy by teaching him how to multiply. As the class sings the song, the teacher or a student creates a problem on the board to illustrate the directions that the song gives. Get a volunteer student to be “Cy” and dramatize by facial expressions how Cy changes from the scared little kid to the joyful, triumphant successful student. Then Cy gets to try a problem, and the class cheers when he (or she) gets it right.


9. Divide Song

Make up a story and tell it to the class. A little kid is sitting at his desk and wants to go out and play. He is stubbornly resisting the math work that the teacher is presenting. The stern-faced, insistent teacher keeps saying “you gotta divide”. The student balks and complains about this unusual form of torture. Finally a friend coaxes the student to give it a try. So the reluctant student and friend get up, go to the board, and give dividing a try. An attitude change takes place in the reluctant student, and when the teacher calls out a new problem, the student eagerly puts his hand up and says “I get to get up”, and even the teacher begins to smile.


10. Number Line

Make a number line on the floor and have the younger children walk up and down the number line as they sing the song as though they are walking through the park. Older students might prefer to have a number line made (with adding machine paper?) and pasted around the room. A stick figure (cardboard cutout on a Popsicle stick) walks up and down the number line as the song is sung. Problems can be given and solved by having the stick figure walk along the number line appropriately. So “3+4” means start at zero and walk to the “3” position, take a deep breath (whole class takes an exaggerated breath), and walks 4 more places to reach the 7 position. Dice may be used to create the problems and students may assign a special meaning to each number (example “7” could be the water fountain, 9 could be the ball field, 4 could be the swings). In doing subtraction, of course, we walk backwards. Teacher has to decide whether or not to let the number line contain negative integers and fractions. The second verse talks about the properties of the real number line…it is infinite in extent, has only one dimension, and there are no “holes” in it (concepts that are introduced more formally in algebra class)


11. Long Division Rap

Get a volunteer or two to stand in front of the room and make up “rap” gestures as they song is sung. There are always some “show offs” in the class. Or, if you are brave, teacher can do the rapping. This song helps students to remember the algorithmic process involved in division…the order in which the operations are done.


12. Integer Song

This makes a technical mathematical term easy to spell and fun to pronounce. It can be sung in rounds with the class broken up into 3 groups. When the “positive, negative, zero” are sung, everyone makes a happy face when they sing “positive”, a frown when they sing “negative”, and fold arms and shiver at “zero” (as when it is zero degrees outside). 


13. Simplify Fractions

This song can be sung as it is being illustrated at the board. Sometimes the singing creates a “learning rhythm” that sustains a pace that everyone can keep up with. It also keeps the teacher from going too fast. So if 5/10 is put on the board, class looks at the top and bottom and tries to think of a special number that goes into both.


14. Smart at Math

This is a confidence builder. It can be sung at the start of class as a “spirit” song, or at a time in class when a student is complaining that they can’t do a problem or this work is too hard. It creates a positive message that goes contrary to the popular myth that some people are good and math and others aren’t. It is a song of encouragement to the slower learner especially.


15. Doing Squares

This is a way of memorizing squares in a fun way. Students can use their calculators to make a table of squares, and teacher can make a large poster or an overhead transparency with the values displayed. It works as away of recalling squares and is valuable when students get into algebra class. Students can use creative thinking to help memorize…example 169 is followed by 196 (reverse digits) and 21-squared is 441, the reverse of 12-squared. Students will find other patterns that help them memorize the squares. 


16. Fraction Song

Do physical motions with the song. Use your arms to draw a tepee, give “straight across” motions, and make reciprocals. The “tepee” method means draw slanted lines from numerator to denominators of the two fractions, and then a horizontal line through the two denominators (thus forming a tepee). Then multiply across the slanted lines, add results to get the numerator of the answer. Multiply across the bottom to get the denominator of the answer. Realize that the final answer sometimes needs to be reduced. This method carries over comfortably to adding and subtracting rational expressions in algebra.