Hands-On Activities for Teaching Measurement to the Nearest 1/4 Inch & Line Plots

 Teaching measurement is such a fun topic to teach because it naturally lends itself to hands-on learning.  In 3rd grade, we learn how to measure to the nearest quarter inch.  I like to teach this concept after we learn about fractions.  This gives students some background knowledge about fractions of a whole.

Rulers can be a bit overwhelming to students when they are trying to make sense of all the "little lines" found between each inch.  A little trick I have learned to help them make sense of this, is to use 4 different colored highlighters to highlight the first inch.  Before passing out the rulers, I highlight each quarter inch in a different color.   

We practice measuring a few examples together, and then its time for them to explore this concept on their own.  We did an "outdoor scoot" using this activity.  To complete the outdoor scoot, I taped the bugs in various places outside.  Students went around in partner groups measuring the bugs and recording their lengths on the recording sheet. The bugs were taped in a central location to give the students enough room to move around, but not too far apart that I could not keep my "teacher eye" on everyone.  If the weather is not cooperating with you, this scoot can also be completed indoors. 

Once everyone gathered their measurement data, we created a line plot. After creating the line plot, its a great time for students to create questions that can be answered by their line plot such as, "What length was most frequently measured?" or "How many bugs measured at least 5 inches?".

Pretty fun right?  If you are in need of additional resources to teach measurement to the nearest quarter inch and line plots, you can find more hand-on activities here:

You can also find printable vocabulary posters here ( color or black and white versions included):

Elf-tacular Giveaway

We have teamed up with Nikki at Teaching Autism for this Elf-tacular blog hop and giveaway! Hidden in our blog post you will find one of the letters needed to enter for a chance to win a $70 gift card! Hop through to everyone's blog to collect and unscramble all the letters into a December/Holiday themed word. Then, enter the Rafflecopter for a chance at winning.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (cue in the music)... in my room.  We only have 14 instructional days between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break, which means we have been busier than Santa's Elves on Christmas Eve! 

Here is a peak at what we have been working on:

Christmas Centers

As you know, I teach 3 rotations a day of 3rd grade math.  I set up these centers to review skills that we have already learned about this year.  All of these centers are hands on and the kids absolutely love digging into them!

The centers will stay the same each day, I just tweek them a bit to include slightly different measurements etc. each day.  

Here is what you can find at each of the stations:

Station 1- Weight with Addition and Subtraction

At this station, students weigh 2 different objects using a digital scale.  Students then must find the difference and total weight of the two objects.

 Station 2- Liquid Measurement and Rounding

At this station students must measure the total amount of liquid in both containers.  Then, they must round the amount of liquid in the containers to the nearest 10 and nearest 100.

Station 3- Weight

At this station, students use a pan balance to measure the weight of an object.  They must show the units they used to calculate the weight.  This works well for multiples. For example if students weigh a 90 gram item, they may list that they used 2, 20 gram weights (2 x 20), and 5, 10 gram weights (5 x 10).

Station 4- Catch a Reindeer

In addition to these fun review centers, we are also learning about area.  At this center, students must "catch" one of Santa's reindeer that has gotten loose.   To do so, they must enclose it in a pen and calculate the area of that pen.

Station 5- Build a Figure

To go along with the area theme we are working on in class, students are given a specific area and must create as many rectangles or squares that they can with that given area.  Students use foam square inch tiles, in which I have glued magnetic pieces to them so they will stick to my magnetic whiteboard.  If you want to try this and don't have a magnetic board, cookie sheets would work as well for this center.

And there you have it.  Some easy to set up centers with little prep time.  In efforts to make sure students really understood what to do at each center, on Day 1, I only set up the first 3 stations, and then added a station each day after that. You can find the recording sheet that I use here: Christmas Stations Recording Sheet

While students are rotating around through the centers, that frees up a bit of time for me to work with small groups.  Right now, students are working on reviewing multiplication of whole numbers by multiples of 10 or single digit multiplication (depending upon each students ability) during small group time. 

I found these adorable Santa light up wands in the Dollar Spot at Target.  If you can't find the light up wands, you could use fly swatters or kids can simply slap their answer choice with their hands.  You can find this fun FREEBIE in my store here: Snatch a Santa

Paper Plate Santa Craft

Karen's kindergarten students had a lot of fun making these paper plate Santa's on our Polar Express / Pajama / Hot Cocoa Bar Day. **Disclaimer** Most of you know that I (Karen) taught for 16 years in Southern CA and then moved with my husband and kids to MO. I am no longer in the classroom.

December Themed Writing Topics

Students loved guided drawing lessons and writing holiday themed stories.

Elf on the Shelf

Every year Jingle, our Elf on the Shelf, would visit after Thanksgiving break. The students loved finding her and little notes and gifts she would leave.

Thanks for reading! Click the elf image below to hop to the next blog post... 

Be sure to collect all 7 letters and enter our Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $70 gift card. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Click Here to visit the next blog in the event the image isn't linked correctly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway