Tips for Teaching Measurement in the Primary Classroom
Teaching measurement is one of my favorite lessons in the primary classroom. Students love the hands-on learning format and are eager to participate. If you’re getting ready to dive into this topic in your room, you’re in luck! I’m sharing all of my best tips for teaching measurement today.
Teaching Measurement to Primary Students
In my first-grade classroom, we were focused on measuring length in nonstandard units. This is often students’ first interaction with learning to measure, and it’s one of the easiest concepts to grasp when teaching measurement. It’s also a lot of fun since we’re using nonstandard units and can measure just about anything to practice!
Introduce the Idea of Measurement
Since this is likely your students’ first experience with measurement, a solid introduction is definitely a must! There are many ways to do this, but one of my favorites is with this video. It offers a great introduction to measurement by defining what it means, listing some of the things we can measure, and providing examples of measuring length in action. There’s even information included on units we can measure something in. Your students will also love the silly little “instructor” in this video!
Consider using a video like this one to kick things off. Let students watch it all the way through and then have a group conversation about what was discussed. You might also provide some examples of measurement in your classroom to help cement these ideas. For example, you can hold up 2 random items and ask kids to visually determine which item is shorter/longer. Choosing two items of obviously different lengths works well here. Then grab two items that are very close in length to make the point that sometimes we need to actually measure to determine which is longer or shorter.
I also like to make an anchor chart with key points on teaching measurement that includes things like the definition of measurement and different things we measure such as temperature, weight, and length. In first grade, we take a deep dive into measuring length, so once we begin with this little intro, we take a closer look at what that means.
Focusing on Measuring Length
An important part of teaching measurement in the primary classroom is helping students fully grasp what measuring length means and how to measure length properly. For this, I like to create another chart with my students that has easy-to- reference measuring tips. Here are some things we include:
- start at one end
- measure all the way to the other end
- make sure there are no gaps when measuring
- measure with the same tool or unit the whole time
- check your work after measuring
These are the basic steps I teach my students when we’re working on learning to measure length. I like to provide a visual example of each one so that students understand what I’m talking about.
You can draw a line on the board and use the magnets to show how you begin at one end and measure to the end of the line. Point out what “gaps” would look like and why they are problematic. Taking the time to teach these basic concepts to your students will help them understand why we are measuring length and how to get the most accurate measurement. Oh, and don’t forget to have your students measure twice to check their work! I always had mine measure, write the number down, and then measure again to ensure their answer was correct. This is a good practice to learn at an early age. You know the old saying… measure twice, cut once!
Start Practicing with Measuring Length
After you’ve talked this through with your students and provided some examples, it’s time to start measuring! I like to have my students use a variety of fun activities to practice this. The more variety we can use the better. I also like to choose activities that have students use a few different types of units to measure as well. Here are a few of my go-tos to practice!
Measure School Supplies with Mini Erasers
Everyone loves mini erasers, so why not use them as your unit of choice to practice non-standard measurement? This is super simple to set up as well! Simply grab a bucket and fill it with all kinds of different school supplies. Pencils, markers, glue bottles, staplers, notebooks, you name it! Anything goes for this exercise. Place them all in the bucket and set it on a table with plenty of mini erasers. Just make sure you use 1 type of mini eraser to ensure they are all the same size.
Have students choose 1 item from the bucket at a time. They will lay the item flat on the table and use the mini erasers to measure from one end to the other. I would model this first for my students, pointing out the measuring tips we went over above. Then, I had my kids count how many erasers were used, write the number down in a notebook, and then remove the erasers and repeat. This process of double-checking is a great way to help students get plenty of practice with measuring length and slow down a bit as we focus on this concept. I love this activity because it doesn’t require any fancy materials and the kids love it.
Teaching Measurement with Task Cards
Another fun way to focus on teaching measurement is with these Measuring Length Task Cards. I love these because they offer a lot of practice without a lot of prep on my part! To use, I simply print and laminate the cards and then store them in task card (photo) boxes. Students will get a box of cards along with a recording sheet to document their answers.
There are tons of different units included on the cards including snap cubes, linking chains, counting bears, pennies, and more. This is great since students are familiar with these items in our classroom. They will choose a card, measure how long the item on the card is, and record it on their paper. There are many different options for the recording sheets as well to allow for differentiation, or increased difficulty as your student progress.
These cards are perfect for center time as students can easily work independently with them. I also like to use them for a game of Scoot from time to time! This is simple to set up. Just place 1 task card on each desk and provide each student with a recording sheet. You’ll set a timer for them to work on each card and when the timer goes off, they “Scoot!” to the next desk. This is a fun way to practice measurement as a group and get those kiddos up and moving too!
Teaching Measurement with Digital Activities
Another fun tool to use when teaching measurement is these digital task cards. These are similar to the activities I mentioned above, except they are in a digital format for Google Slides. I love this option because it presents one more interactive way for my students to practice measuring length. Not to mention, the engagement factor of digital activities is unmatched! My kids always love being able to use the tablet or computer in our classroom. For the digital version of the activity, I included 5 different options to keep things interesting! Here’s how students will measure using the digital activities:
- count how many and type the answer
- drag and drop to measure
- drop tiles and avoid gaps to measure
- use links to measure
- use bears to measure
These activities are great for center time, or independent learning. I also loved to use these digital slides when teaching in a group format. I can easily project these on their board and everyone can see as I model how to measure length properly. It makes moving from instruction to guided practice a seamless activity.
No-Prep Practice Pages
I think, as primary teachers, we can all agree that having a few no-prep activities in your arsenal is a must! These No-Prep Measuring Length Worksheets are great for continuing to practice in a way that’s super simple to facilitate! Included in this resource are 30 different pages that focus on:
- measuring length
- comparing lengths
- comparing measuring tools
- measuring with a variety of non-standard units and more!
There are also multiple options included so you can choose if you’d like to use worksheets with math standard labels or without. I’ve also included some anchor charts that are great for teaching or reviewing measurement concepts and a mini-assessment to help you check your students’ understanding. They are a great addition to your measurement unit.
Have Fun Teaching Measurement in Your Room
I hope you enjoyed this little peek into how I teach this topic in my classroom! If there’s one word of advice that I can offer when teaching measurement, it’s to use variety in your lessons and practice activities! The combination of educational videos, group conversations and modeling, center activities, task cards, digital activities, and practice pages has been a winning formula in my room. Ensuring that we use plenty of variety not only makes this topic more fun but also helps to cement this skill. Don’t forget if you need some resources to use in your room, you can find all of the ones mentioned here in my TPT Shop. Have fun teaching measurement in your room!
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