How many gifts did my true love send to me altogether?
First
verse: On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me A
partridge in a pear tree.
Last verse On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-leaping, Eleven ladies dancing, Ten pipers piping,
Nine drummers drumming, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans
a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling
birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a
pear tree!
You may need to give the pupils a little help if they are having difficulty. Can you sing? Well if singing is out of the question the song could be recited as a poem. Once pupils start making a list of the total number of presents each day they will see the pattern of triangular numbers emerge. Could they generalise this to find the number of presents received on the nth day? More advanced students might consider finding the formula for the sum of the series!
Unknown,
Ideas for further developing this theme:
How many birds are there? How many people are there? If each drummer has 2 drumsticks how many sticks are there altogether? If each goose lays 2 eggs and each of the other birds lay 3 eggs how many eggs would there be? How many eyes are there altogether? If the gold rings were shared out amongst the maids how many would not have one? How many people are playing a musical instrument? How many fingers are there altogether? Could all the birds be shared out equally between the ladies dancing?
Helen C, Twitter
A great investigation into the 12 days of Christmas from @Transum ! After completing these tasks the children started setting their own problems for each other to solve #WhatITaughtTodaypic.twitter.com/iR7APWquQQ
Each year the PNC Christmas Price Index estimates the cost of buying all of the gifts in the song. In December 2021 it was estimated to be £30,562 (US $41205).
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First
verse:
