If one unit of math gets overlooked, pushed aside, or skipped over, it’s measuring with a ruler. I get it. It’s the end of the year, and you get to ALL the significant standards, so you want to let down your hair and have a little fun. Measurement isn’t the most exciting of units, but knowing how to use a ruler and measure is a big deal.
Don’t judge me., but knowing how to use a ruler correctly wasn’t something that clicked until I became an adult. Having taught third, fourth, and fifth grade, I know it’s essential for our students in so many ways to understand both the customary and metric systems of measurement.
There are many ties to other “bigger” standards like fractions, using a number line, and the base ten system. Using these connections to other curriculum areas has made measurement successful in my classroom. Still, it’s always because we do lots of hands-on learning and fun regarding rulers and measurement that my students have fun while also mastering this important life skill.
If you need ways to spice up your measurement unit that are both meaningful and engaging, then I have three for you.
Three activities to teach measuring with a ruler:
1: Building your own ruler:
Anytime my students get to build something, they learn MORE. Making and measuring with a ruler is a wonderful way to help your students understand fractional units and how a ruler is like a number line.
It’s pretty straightforward, but you will need a legal-size piece of paper or two smaller sheets of paper (trimmed to ruler width) taped together.
First, have your students mark the measurements for whole inches using a black marker or pencil (and a ruler). Then, have them divide each inch into halves using a bright color like red or orange. Next, have them divide each half in half, marking them in a different color for fourths.
Doing it this way helps your students understand the fractional aspect of rulers and why we call these measurements half or quarter of an inch. It is also straightforward to see on a paper ruler and can help transition them to a standard ruler with both eighths and sixteenths.
2: Measuring objects in the classroom
This activity offers movement, hands-on learning, student choice, and measurement practice.
Have students divide a piece of lined paper into three sections. The three sections should be titled:” nearest inch,” “nearest half an inch, ” and “nearest quarter inch”. They will measure different objects around the room and place the object name and measurement in one of the three categories.
Using either their paper-made rulers or standard rulers, have them select items around the room to practice measuring. You can also do an on-the-fly assessment, asking students to measure objects for you and correct any misconceptions as they are measuring.
3: Measurement scavenger hunt:
I love task cards and math activity mats. I usually use them for games or math centers, but another excellent math activity for math rotations or practice is a solve-the-room scavenger hunt. You can use specially made task cards or activities designed for this purpose or sticky notes for regular task cards.
When students solve a problem, they match the solution to a task card to another one around the room. Scavenger hunts, like this measurement one, have the solution listed as the task card problem number. Students would find the matching task card with the same symbol as their answer to know if it was correct and move on.
If you don’t have task cards designed like this, you can also use Post-it notes. You can place a post-it note with the solution to the previous problem’s answer above the next card students should solve. Continue doing this until you get to the last problem, and then place the final solution above problem number one.
Not only is this an engaging classroom math activity, but it’s also easy to implement with ALL those task cards you have. It offers your students an opportunity to move around the classroom purposefully as well. It’s a win-win!
Need task cards? Check out my growing supply of task cards HERE.
