If you're not teaching nonstandard measurement in your kindergarten classroom... start... start NOW! This is exactly the kind of hands-on, exploration based learning that is growing more and more absent in K classrooms. And, as one of my favorite math concepts to teach, I'm excited to share with you some ideas and resources to use in your classroom!
Videos are a great hook into a concept. Let's face it, kids like videos.
My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE Sid the Science Kid. He's a staple in our classroom. This fun video explores the concept of nonstandard measurement as they attempt to measure their classroom using "Geralds" (one of the characters on the show)
Another from Sid the Science kid. This cute little song uses non-standard measurement to measure a whale!
This cute little song uses some of your kids' favorite characters to teach measurement concepts. This song is great for an intro into a measurement unit as it runs down all the reasons we measure things and the various kinds of measurement (height, weight, capacity, length, etc.)
I love using picture books to teach math concepts. Here are several great picture books for introducing and reviewing measurement concepts!
This book is great for opening up the conversation of which animals are bigger/smaller, longer/shorter, heavier/lighter.
Another size comparison story. Students will compare the animals on a page as they progressively get larger!
LOVE this cute book for comparative measurement. Not only does it compare animals on the page to each other, but also to real world objects.
The King wants to build a bed for his wife, but doesn't know how to decide how large to make it! Love this book to intro an activity on measuring our feet with nonstandard units OR measuring WITH our feet!
A little inchworm uses his body to measure. Can't pass up a Leo Lionni book!
Mighty Maddie, by the amazing Stuart J. Murphy, compares light and heavy in this cute tale of a little girl who must clean her room!
The last two are more advanced and geared toward the concept of standard measurement, but would be great to use at the end of a nonstandard unit to shift gears into standard measure.
Below are some of the resources and activities I use to teach non standard measurement! They can all be found in my Let's Measure pack!
(Fill a large tub with water or sand and some of the items shown here for a capacity exploration!)
You can get hands-on during ALL of your measurement exploration. Several of the activities in my measurement pack call for measuring using materials that you already have in your classroom.
Above are just a few of the activities we do for learning about length, height, weight, and capacity. Click the image below to check out the pack in my store and view the preview to see everything included.
And here's a little freebie for some delicious, hands-on, nonstandard measurement practice! Click to download then go out and get your mini marshmallows! :)
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