Measurement

Day One: Nonstandard measurement
Take turns measuring to the door with different sizes of feet (cutouts included) - read the story "The Queen's Bed" and discuss why we need standard measurements. If time left, practice measuring with unifix cubes as the “standard”. Point out that now our measurements are all the same.

Day Two: Measure with Rulers
Practice first measuring as a class. Talk about yesterday’s activity of measuring things with unifix cubes. We have an even more common standard measurement called an inch. Show a ruler and demonstrate how to measure something – like the white board, etc. Then tell students they will be practicing their skill by measuring the room. Give each child their recording sheet. They should find and measure at least 5 items around the room with their ruler. Have extra pieces of paper for fast-finishers to add to their book. If time at the end, gather back around the table and compare some measurements.

Day Three: Measuring weight
Bring in various objects and a scale. Have students predict how much each item will weigh and then test their estimates.
Previous Knowledge – time is another form of measurement. We measure time in seconds, minutes, and hours.
When done, introduce the Measurement Olympics for tomorrow (that way tomorrow can be less instruction and more Olympic fun!). Ask them if they know what the Olympics are? Explain. We’ll be doing our own Olympic events using the measurement skills we’ve been learning.
Introduce each “event” – see attached pages. I’m hoping to be able to set them up in the lunch room tomorrow. We’ll see. We’ll be doing the cotton ball shot put, paper plate discuss throw, giant step, high jump, straw javelin, one called the Jumpin’ Jack (how many jumping jacks can you do in 60 seconds/1 minute using a stop watch), and one more called The Foot Race (put one of the feet from the previous lesson on your head and start running until it falls off – measure how far you got before it fell). Briefly explain what the students should do at each center. There is also an information sheet that will be at each center, but I’d love them to be already introduced to each event to save them time.

Day Four: Measurement Olympics
Pass out their Olympic Recording Books. Review any events they are uncertain about. The students will move from event to event until they’ve completed all 7 of the events – or until we run out of time. Each Olympic Athlete will receive a “medal” and will record their favorite event on the medal.