Students in Pre-Algebra Advanced have been exploring the connections between two of humanity’s most ancient means of expression: mathematics and poetry. 

Recently, students in Math Department Chair Cassandra Papalilo’s class spent a class learning about the links between math and poetry and crafting poems about math. Students were given their choice of poetic styles. They could write limericks, sonnets, haiku, acrostic, square stanzas (where the number of syllables per line equals the number of lines), or poems based on the Fibonacci sequence (the number of syllables per line is based on the sequence.) English Department Chair Gwen Couch joined one of the classes to help students work on their ideas and explore some poetic possibilities. Cassandra’s only parameters for the project were that each poem had to incorporate ten math vocabulary words or phrases, be based around a theme, and, most importantly, be creative!

The cross-curricular nature of this project helps students make connections to their strengths and skills in other coursework. Students can see math from a different perspective, and Cassandra gets to see a different side of her students as well. “A few wrote about their feelings about math, while others wrote about who they are and where they see math in the world, from a snowflake to a beach,” says Cassandra. “What I like so much about this project is that it showcases the students and their creativity in a different light.”