Long Division
by Ms. Batis-Szyszkowski’s class
Haskell STEAM Songbook

May be sung to the tune of “It’s Raining Tacos” by Parry Gripp

Just take a pencil, draw half of a square
Find your dividend and put it in there
It’s as easy as breathing air
It’s long division!

The divisor goes to the left of the box
Now comes the part that really rocks
As easy as putting on shoes and socks
It’s long division!

Does McDonald’s Sell Cheeseburgers Raw?
DMSCB
Does McDonald’s Sell Cheeseburgers Raw?
That’s a mnemonic, you see!

Divide the divisor into a digit or two
Put your quotient up above is what you should do
Then multiply and subract it too
It’s long division!

If the divisor is bigger than the difference, my friend
Bring down a digit and do it again
Digit by digit ‘til you reach the end
It’s long division!

Does McDonald’s Sell Cheeseburgers Raw?
DMSCB
Does McDonald’s Sell Cheeseburgers Raw?
That’s a mnemonic, you see!

What’s the R for? In case you don’t know
It’s the remainder, left out of the show
Just write an R and that’s where it goes
So long, division…

Notes

How does this help the kids learn? Numerous studies (Howard Gardner, Nick Page, Kaori Iwai, Greg Crowther, many others) show that integrating the arts into academic instruction enhances memory, motivation, and comprehension of the material we need our students to learn. This also fits with several thousand years of human experience: all of our oldest stories (Iliad, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, etc.) were shared and remembered as songs long before ordinary people had access to books. Although our songs are intended to be fun to hear and to sing, our music serves a serious purpose; and evidence shows that it really works.