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Dr. Lesser can do conference keynotes, banquet presentations, minicourses, inservice workshops, assemblies, family math nights, interdisciplinary projects, gifted & talented enrichment programs, multi-day residency, and selected corporate events. Audiences have ranged from upper elementary school to university level or even general audiences.Presentations are usually tailored to the situation, but most of his presentations can be described as a 30-60 minute version of one (or a combination of two) of the following: |
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Click HERE for a list of recent presentations! Click HERE to see what others have said about Lesser’s presentations!
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1.) “Exploring Connections Between Mathematics and Music” explores (with historical context going back to Pythagoras) a variety of examples, such as: how a string's or chime's pitch varies with its length, how the sound of two notes relates to the ratio of their frequencies, how patterns generate and illuminate rhythms and sequences of notes and chords, how mathematical thinking guides the building (and even playing of) musical instruments and the composition and analysis of music, how transformations of a melody parallel transformations in mathematics, etc.; accessible to audiences with varying levels of prior musicianship and mathematical knowledge 2.) “Formula for a Hit: Using Songs to Learn Mathematics and Statistics” motivates a variety of mathematics/statistics content, history and process using both new and familiar songs and raps, with audience participation gently encouraged; uses songs for generating descriptive statistics, conducting hypothesis tests, analyzing lyrics (for specific terms and global themes), analyzing data, song-based problem solving and critical thinking, etc.; includes "how to" tips for teachers of all levels of musicianship; parallels and overlap between the process of songwriting and doing mathematics can also be explored in varying degrees; good for "creativity" or "motivational" presentations 3.) “Mathemusician's Medley” a live full-length concert of songs with a strong mathematical theme woven together with educational and entertaining between-song patter; some songs can be done as sing-alongs, depending on situation; setting has varied from classroom to auditorium stage; usually accompanied by overhead slides and acoustic guitar 4.) “Workshop on Songwriting, Raps, Poetry, etc.” adaptable for many age ranges, this is a fun, accessible way for even beginners to participate in the creative process of songwriting (as modeled and facilitated by someone who has published mathematical AND nonmathematical songs, raps and poems) and the class will create one or more educational content-based songs, jingles, poems or raps by the time the workshop ends, leaving them with not only a tangible creative product to motivate or remember some academic content of interest to the class, but also a memorable demonstration of how to balance left- and right- brain thinking that will serve them well in any problem solving environment; connects to language arts, music education, and multiple intelligences! 5.) “Visit from Pythagoras” A more-or-less in-character, in-costume interactive presentation channeling the very first “mathemusician” (6th century BCE), sharing his “discoveries” of relationships between notes(pitches) and ratios of small whole numbers (with a MONOCHORD!) as well as his famous non-musical mathematics – the Pythagorean theorem. Interdisciplinary presentation incorporates references to Ancient Greek history as well as interesting human-interest anecdotes/eccentricities about the secret society of Pythagoreans! Can be tailored to middle school or secondary school audiences. 6.) “Math and Music for Younger (Grades 1-4) Audiences” A half-hour sampling of connecting music to topics such as: arithmetic/counting, musicians’ geometry, translations(slides), patterns, bar graphs of music-related data. And, of course, some math songs! |
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Resources
& Bibliography | Lyrics
of Greatest LESSER hits | Cool Math
& Music Quotes |
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