|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professor
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 and audience. For example, some national opening keynotes
were for mathematicians (e.g., MAA MathFest 2008), while others for K-12 math
teachers (e.g., 2009 NCTM regional in Nashville). Most presentations can be
described as a 30-90 minute version of one or a combination of two of the
following:
|
|
Click HERE
for a list of recent presentations! Click
HERE to see what others say about Lesser’s presentations!
|
1.) “Mathemusician’s Medley” is 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 visuals (slides)
and acoustic guitar 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.) “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 4.) “Workshop: Writing Content-Based Songs/Raps/Poetry” is adaptable for many age ranges as a fun,
accessible way for even beginners to participate in the creative process of
writing (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 academic content of interest, 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.) “Math and Music for Younger (Grades 1-4) Audiences” is 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! |
|
Resources
& Bibliography | Lyrics
of Greatest LESSER hits | Cool Math &
Music Quotes |
|
