Measurement Ideas

Hello friends! Just a reminder, I'm having a little giveaway and you can enter HERE!!

Okay, onto the point of today's post...

Since I can't get into my classroom until next week, I've been trying to calm my "I'M NEVER GONNA BE READY!!" nerves by preparing as many lessons as I can.  You know the kind, super cute, super engaging, the kiddos love 'em, but you require a TON of work on our part in the form of cutting, laminating, etc., etc. 

This summer, my team and I got together a lot to talk about and find activities for common core math lessons.  One of the ideas we came up with for measurement 1.MD.1 (Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object) was to have yarn cut to the average length of some common animals and then allow the students to sort the animals from shortest to longest.  

Each pair of students will be assigned an animal from the list, stretch out the string, and then work with their classmates to figure out what order they should be in.  You'll probably want to go outside to give them room to move around and figure this out.  Plus, a few of these animals are really long! Several of the animals are close to or the same length, so you can even graph the results when you are done if you wish!

Here's a couple literature ideas to tie into the lesson as well. I have used both before (borrowed from the library) and the kids adored them since they have fantastic pictures. 

There are three versions of this book including an aquarium version that I'm gonna have to check out.

If you'd like to give this activity a try, you can download the picture cards below for free. The average length (found by a Google search) can be found on the last page.   Of course you can use any animals you'd like.  I tried to come up with a variety and after I cut each piece of yarn, I wrapped it around a piece of cardboard and put it and the picture into a Ziploc baggie so it's all set to go.

Download by clicking HERE.

I suggest you find a better helper than me to cut the yarn:)

Now I'm off the tackle this mess...

that's a whole lot of laminating to cut:(

Have a great day!

~Carrie