Measurement Consciousness

How a fellow teacher helped children keep measurement consciousness.

In this blog Ms. K. describes a yearlong activity she conducted in her classroom with her students. By using ruler masking tape, she taped the side of the door where the students would come in each morning. On the ruler masking tape every 12 inches she would mark with a coloured dot showing that in one foot there are 12 inches. Every day the students would come in, stand at the door and measure their heights and record their findings. At the end of the year the students compared their heights to the beginning of the year and were able to watch themselves grow throughout the course of the school year.

"It will be so fun to watch them measure their heights all year and for them to watch themselves grow!" - Ms. K

Supporting Children's Learning of Measurement

This is a great activity to support children’s learning in regards to standard measurement. The students are learning that there are 12 inches in a foot and can count and see how tall they are in feet by looking and counting the colour dots on the ruler masking tape. For older or more advanced students they can make the conversion of how many inches tall they are if they know that there are 12 inches in a foot. In addition, it allows them to keep “measurement consciousness” as they are observing firsthand their growth and development and allows them to make connections to what they are learning to what is happening to their bodies. At the end of the school year they could make comparisons to their classmate’s heights and see who is the tallest and if that person was the tallest throughout the whole year.

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