Summary and Application of Writing and Reading Multiplicity in the Uni-Verse by Radakovic et al. (2018).
The article showcased a unique style of poetry that reminds me of a “Scale of the Universe” (a really cool video visually showcases proportions and scales). The poem starts at a 1m level and expands to the power of 10. The great thing about this type of poem is that it allows students the opportunity to personalize and offers them a narrative voice. I wrote my own to model the style portrayed in this article.
Within the stretch of a metre,
Is Jax’s soft fur beneath my fingers
Within the span of ten metres,
Are the endless stacks of papers and marking
Within a spread of a hundred metres wide,
Are signs of possibilities in the backyard, my place of zen
Within the distance of one kilometre
I strive to reach from end to end in 6 minutes flat
Within the commute of ten kilometres
Are starting points to a number of serene mountains and trails
Within the leisurely drive of a hundred kilometres,
Are the shores of my favourite camping scene.
Within a flight of a thousand kilometres,
I am surrounded by the little arms of my niece and nephews.
Within the journey of ten thousand kilometres,
Lies the origins of my parents, grandparents and generations before
Within the space of a hundred thousand kilometres
Orbit the satellites that source life to devices that are always 0 meters away.
This was quite enjoyable to write, and I love that it allows “students to make real connections between mathematical measurements and their lived experiences” (p.3). While I wrote this poem, I noticed I had to research some of the actual distances to determine if the values were actually accurate. This is great for students to learn about the accuracy of the information they present. Ultimately, this allows students to create ‘textual writing’ where there is “interpretive space” that link to a reader’s knowledge, experiences and construct meaning through experiences.
Activity PH4 Poems:
I followed Susan’s braided PH4 poems. I’m not a poetic person, so this was more about following a pattern, less about evoking strong emotions from my rearrangements of letters. Though I did play around with it visually and thought it would be cool to see it as a pattern or weave…I enjoyed that this process could also be transformed visually, not just poetically.
It looks beautiful! I also used colours to help me with the braided poems. I wrote each word in a different colour on a piece of paper in order to follow the pattern. Thanks for your thought provoking comments about using math to build critical thinking skills in students - testing the world for truth right now seems to be a more and more important skill
ReplyDeleteI found the use of colour helpful as well so that I could see the pattern.
DeleteIsn't it interesting that you all used colour? I used numbers: 1 2 3 4, 2 1 4 3, 2 4 1 3, 4 2 3 1, 4 3 2 1, 3 4 1 2, 3 1 4 2, 1 3 2 4, 1 2 3 4.
DeleteI agree ladies! It is so fascinating to see what draws to us! And I love how these can be personalized in so many ways.
DeleteHi Christina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your poem. I am so inspired by the poems this week. I love writing poetry with students. I'm thinking that my students could write a distance poem (is that what this poem is called?) from the perspective of a salmon (we are raising salmon in our classroom)... I love that it would include some research. This would make measurement purposeful for students as well.
(Sorry, I pressed publish too soon.)
DeleteDo you think you would use this type of poem structure in your class?
Like Kim, I found your distance poems fascinating! This would be great to teach unit conversions.
DeleteThanks Kim! I am not a writer, but I was drawn to this poem and the different directions to take it.
DeleteThe style is based off of a Japanese poem by Nanao Sakaki in 1996 titled "A Love Letter". Radakovic et al. found this poem intriguing through the original poems use of "concentric circles" the scales represented within the stanzas. One of the authors, Jagger, also used it with teacher candidates who were uncomfortable with teaching elementary math. They found this poem less intimidating because of its use of visual imagery and links to mathematical themes.
I think this would be a great way to introduce scales and imagery with students! I know for a lot of students who struggle with understanding scales, this may give them an opportunity to write out their understanding. And more importantly, make it meaningful to them. I was hoping to use this when I introduce the space unit, and teach scientific notation! :D
Thanks Maria!! I agree! It would be fun to publish these as well, have a annual book "Multiplicity poems" =)
DeleteFantastic post, Christina! I also love the use of colours. The "Scale of the Universe" reminds me of a resource I've used in my math class - Nikon's Universcale (https://www.nikon.com/about/sp/universcale/)
ReplyDeleteThe lightyear section may be helpful for your space unit. ;)
And thanks everyone for offering some interesting suggestions for incorporating poetry in your classes!