If you were not a fan of maths in school, can you imagine your teacher deciding to ditch the textbook and opt for a belting rendition of one of Beyoncé’s hit singles? Well, it actually happened.
You’d imagine it’s hard enough to come up with lyrics for a song about hitting the club and all the usual tropes found in a modern pop single, but what if you were trying to turn Beyoncé’s biggest hits into a song about complex maths?
Well, that’s what Ciera Paul attempted for her class at ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans, where she managed to take Beyoncé’s Foundation and use it to teach maths to her seventh-grade (12-14-year-olds) class.
Even more impressive is the fact that, according to ABC News, she wrote it in just 30 minutes, which she then passed on to her students via five-minute sessions across each class for just two weeks.
As you can see from the clip she posted online, the kids are obviously more than happy to belt out some Beyoncé with slightly different lyrics including: “Complementary is 90 degrees angles/Supplementary equals 1-8-0/I solved the problem like I’m a superhero/ I bring As home in my bag/swag.
Aside from being just a bit of fun, however, Paul said that after this bit of math karaoke, the kids’ grades improved thanks to a bit of encouragement the students are not typically used to.
“The kids are looking for something that’s fun and enjoyable, and adding a little song or dance makes [the lesson] more memorable for them,” she said.
One can only wonder what other songs could be put together with a similar intention of teaching kids maths.
Beyoncé Knowles image via Everett Collection/Shutterstock