Measurement
Bruce Moody
Kids don't need to count and count and count. Level 1 and Level 2 from the curriculum.
It is underplayed in classrooms. Take the time at level 1 and value the learning, over a year to build up measurement knowledge.
Don't use a ruler until after year 2. Children need to demonstrate with self-chosen units. Length is not a straight line. Length is not a ruler.
Kids don't know what they are measuring so they don't know how to measure it.
Year 1- Understand that any objects have more than one attribute.
We are learning different ways to think about big and small.
Success- Ask children to look at the table and the chair. Tell me why the table is bigger than the chair and the chair is smaller than the table. Students to understand there are different ways of thinking about big and small.
If we look at the chair with paper on top the table is bigger if we look at the chair and table this way- the chair is taller. Etc.
Books, cars, soft toys for tools for measurement- which book is the biggest? Any of the books could be regarded as the biggest. We want them to learn to question it depends what you are asking.
Talk about the three books. Which one is the biggest? They can discuss what they think. With the books, length works in four dimensions.
Measurement language- the distance between the floor to the ceiling is the length. The attribute is length. Length goes up, down, across- measure the same way and with the same unit. Length goes in three different ways. All the same thing. Tell me the different lengths you are looking at? We can compare things.
Geometry language- when we say the distance between the floor to the ceiling is height.
Direct comparison- not just two and not where the children don't have to think.
Which is the biggest and hope they disagree. What is the bigness that you are looking at? Tactile experience to overrule what they think. Send your finger on a journey. What one did your fingers go the longest on?
Length of an object and the distance between objects. Eg put a car on the line, gave it a push- how far it traveled (distance). Or distance I would have to travel to get to it.
Need students to have experiences of length not being a straight line and experiences in lots of ways. Wrap string around themselves, the string goes on a journey and makes a distance (length). Find some different lengths of things.
Year 2- Start to quantify what those measurements would be. Build up to a unit. Inside bigness.
Must use the same measure. We have to say what we used to measure it. Unit you used to measure.
Capacity- children can experience capacity. How big something is on the inside. Three bits of wood. What is the biggest? We can fit heaps in the plastic bag so it has a bigness when you stretch it out.
Volume- how much room something takes up and capacity is what can fit something inside. Balloon- changed its inside bigness- blow up the balloon bigger, changed the inside. Measure with cubes or blocks. Make houses that have 8 rooms in them. How many blocks big are our houses. The bigness is how many blocks are in the house? Who has the biggest house? The answer, it depends... Tall- one on right, how many blocks, left.
Area- Have things that children can do to examine the area. Cover something, wrapping something up. I wonder how we can find out how big it is? Wrap arm up with newsprint, then we can fold it out and see what area it has. The area is measured in squares, not lines.
Muffin measuring lesson- dry if you scoop not enough. Making it into a story. Taught them how to measure liquid. Iterating a unit. Repeating the unit in the correct way to measure.
Evidence of measurement- Carefully measuring eg locking heel to toe to measure the mat. Or counting feet without touching the gaps in between.
Use 3 different units to measure the same thing. Show the importance of a unit.
Year 3 and 4-
Experience relating to their topic. Snails- drew snail trails on the carpet. This snail went this way, this student went around and around, this snail went back and forwards. Then took the string back to the bead frame, then the students could say how many beads it was.
Check if they know what a ruler is about- give them a broken ruler. Get them using ice block sticks and give them a pain of a number. Give them newsprint and they can mark off something using the ruler.
Cardboard ruler that they can wrap to measure a length. Dressmaker tapes for measuring or builders measuring tape.
Time - just talk about cultural time. Seasons, days of the week, lunch, before, after. We need to be careful of saying ten to. It's 3.50 not ten to 4. The recorded prog says 3.50 or 15.50. Use the digital time to teach time. 7.35. Minute is a minute- small. In the middle ages you only needed the hour.
Weight- children need to understand what the attribute is. You have to feel the weight. Put in a big light dice and a small, heavy sinker. Bigger doesn't mean heavier.
Establish why you would weigh something? When we are looking at these we don't need to weigh them to guess which is the heaviest. Give kids reasons why we have a way of measuring. Transitivity- see in notes.
Unifix blocks are 1 gram. You can measure a whiteboard pen and put in the unifix to weigh and put a number on it. They need to keep measuring. You need to show variety- a luggage weigher. Different ways to weigh.
If we have talked about what perimeter is. The story could be going around the outside. What are we measuring? We are measuring length, but the length around something we measure the perimeter.
Area is measured in squares. Volume is measured in cubes. Capacity is measured in litres.
Measurement needs to have measuring in it.
Static measurement vs dynamic measurement.
Static stays the same, dynamic you can change. Give kids a rubber band, measure the perimeter, then can you make the perimeter bigger.
For children to explore these things with materials. Intestines talk- what is the fatsest way to get to the dot? Striaght. Ok whats the furtherest way to get there.
Give kids ways to explore and measure. Eg If we painted the roof of a flat roof and a corrugated iron roof what uses more paint? Make it with string to measure.
Area- Use hundreds boards for measurement. Not cm squares- too small. Put the shape on and cover it up. 6x 4 covered up. You know 6 and 6 is 12 and 12 and 12 is 24.
Area is measured in squares- they need to measure in squares not cms as it will be incorrect. Areas in squares not in lines. Stories- You built a fence and we need to measure the grass inside. Use squares to measure it.
Drink bottles- 1.5 or 1.25 Here you go what drink would you like? Great you have this one and I'll have this one.... sighs etc... explain decimal placing.
Kids don't need to count and count and count. Level 1 and Level 2 from the curriculum.
It is underplayed in classrooms. Take the time at level 1 and value the learning, over a year to build up measurement knowledge.
Don't use a ruler until after year 2. Children need to demonstrate with self-chosen units. Length is not a straight line. Length is not a ruler.
Kids don't know what they are measuring so they don't know how to measure it.
Year 1- Understand that any objects have more than one attribute.
We are learning different ways to think about big and small.
Success- Ask children to look at the table and the chair. Tell me why the table is bigger than the chair and the chair is smaller than the table. Students to understand there are different ways of thinking about big and small.
If we look at the chair with paper on top the table is bigger if we look at the chair and table this way- the chair is taller. Etc.
Books, cars, soft toys for tools for measurement- which book is the biggest? Any of the books could be regarded as the biggest. We want them to learn to question it depends what you are asking.
Talk about the three books. Which one is the biggest? They can discuss what they think. With the books, length works in four dimensions.
Measurement language- the distance between the floor to the ceiling is the length. The attribute is length. Length goes up, down, across- measure the same way and with the same unit. Length goes in three different ways. All the same thing. Tell me the different lengths you are looking at? We can compare things.
Geometry language- when we say the distance between the floor to the ceiling is height.
Direct comparison- not just two and not where the children don't have to think.
Which is the biggest and hope they disagree. What is the bigness that you are looking at? Tactile experience to overrule what they think. Send your finger on a journey. What one did your fingers go the longest on?
Length of an object and the distance between objects. Eg put a car on the line, gave it a push- how far it traveled (distance). Or distance I would have to travel to get to it.
Need students to have experiences of length not being a straight line and experiences in lots of ways. Wrap string around themselves, the string goes on a journey and makes a distance (length). Find some different lengths of things.
Year 2- Start to quantify what those measurements would be. Build up to a unit. Inside bigness.
Must use the same measure. We have to say what we used to measure it. Unit you used to measure.
Capacity- children can experience capacity. How big something is on the inside. Three bits of wood. What is the biggest? We can fit heaps in the plastic bag so it has a bigness when you stretch it out.
Volume- how much room something takes up and capacity is what can fit something inside. Balloon- changed its inside bigness- blow up the balloon bigger, changed the inside. Measure with cubes or blocks. Make houses that have 8 rooms in them. How many blocks big are our houses. The bigness is how many blocks are in the house? Who has the biggest house? The answer, it depends... Tall- one on right, how many blocks, left.
Area- Have things that children can do to examine the area. Cover something, wrapping something up. I wonder how we can find out how big it is? Wrap arm up with newsprint, then we can fold it out and see what area it has. The area is measured in squares, not lines.
Muffin measuring lesson- dry if you scoop not enough. Making it into a story. Taught them how to measure liquid. Iterating a unit. Repeating the unit in the correct way to measure.
Evidence of measurement- Carefully measuring eg locking heel to toe to measure the mat. Or counting feet without touching the gaps in between.
Use 3 different units to measure the same thing. Show the importance of a unit.
Year 3 and 4-
Experience relating to their topic. Snails- drew snail trails on the carpet. This snail went this way, this student went around and around, this snail went back and forwards. Then took the string back to the bead frame, then the students could say how many beads it was.
Check if they know what a ruler is about- give them a broken ruler. Get them using ice block sticks and give them a pain of a number. Give them newsprint and they can mark off something using the ruler.
Cardboard ruler that they can wrap to measure a length. Dressmaker tapes for measuring or builders measuring tape.
Time - just talk about cultural time. Seasons, days of the week, lunch, before, after. We need to be careful of saying ten to. It's 3.50 not ten to 4. The recorded prog says 3.50 or 15.50. Use the digital time to teach time. 7.35. Minute is a minute- small. In the middle ages you only needed the hour.
Weight- children need to understand what the attribute is. You have to feel the weight. Put in a big light dice and a small, heavy sinker. Bigger doesn't mean heavier.
Establish why you would weigh something? When we are looking at these we don't need to weigh them to guess which is the heaviest. Give kids reasons why we have a way of measuring. Transitivity- see in notes.
Unifix blocks are 1 gram. You can measure a whiteboard pen and put in the unifix to weigh and put a number on it. They need to keep measuring. You need to show variety- a luggage weigher. Different ways to weigh.
If we have talked about what perimeter is. The story could be going around the outside. What are we measuring? We are measuring length, but the length around something we measure the perimeter.
Area is measured in squares. Volume is measured in cubes. Capacity is measured in litres.
Measurement needs to have measuring in it.
Static measurement vs dynamic measurement.
Static stays the same, dynamic you can change. Give kids a rubber band, measure the perimeter, then can you make the perimeter bigger.
For children to explore these things with materials. Intestines talk- what is the fatsest way to get to the dot? Striaght. Ok whats the furtherest way to get there.
Give kids ways to explore and measure. Eg If we painted the roof of a flat roof and a corrugated iron roof what uses more paint? Make it with string to measure.
Area- Use hundreds boards for measurement. Not cm squares- too small. Put the shape on and cover it up. 6x 4 covered up. You know 6 and 6 is 12 and 12 and 12 is 24.
Area is measured in squares- they need to measure in squares not cms as it will be incorrect. Areas in squares not in lines. Stories- You built a fence and we need to measure the grass inside. Use squares to measure it.
Drink bottles- 1.5 or 1.25 Here you go what drink would you like? Great you have this one and I'll have this one.... sighs etc... explain decimal placing.
Comments
Post a Comment