Teaching measurement to a kindergarten class is hard!!! I think it's one of the most challenging units, mainly because there's so much to measurement (length, height, weight, temperature, capacity) and some concepts (such as where to start measuring and where to end!) can be difficult for students to fully understand. I created my Measurement in Kindergarten unit keeping these things in mind. All of the activities are hands-on and have students learning through play. When I start planning for this unit, I think about breaking it up into different sections. I take the first week and focus on length and height. DAY 1 I start by writing each student's name on grid paper. I hand them out to the students and tell them that we will be finding out who has the longest name and who has the shortest name. They are usually really good at quickly figuring this out but we arrange the names on the carpet for all to see. I show them how we can line them up properly so it's easier to compare! Then we have a discussion about what measurement means and I show them the "Measurement" poster and we discuss the different ways we can measure things (i.e., length, height, capacity, temperature, weight). The poster has lots of graphics on it so I use those to explain the new words. I place a variety of non-standard measuring tools in baskets (i.e., Unifix cubes, linking chains, bear counters, Popsicle sticks, etc.) and we discuss the "Length/Height" poster. Students always love this poster because they quickly ask to measure a friend or even themselves! I have a couple of objects in front of me (i.e., a book) and show students how I can use my hands to show where to start and stop measuring! They quickly catch on to using their hands to guide them! Then we discuss other rules: choosing only one measuring tool, staying in a straight line, and leaving no spaces. I let them come up and show the class each rule. We co-create a "rules" poster and leave it up all week. DAY 2 The next day we start by reviewing our "rules" poster. I set up a variety of small plastic animals in a basket along with my non-standard measuring tools I introduced yesterday. I choose an animal and, using the 4 rules, show students how we can measure them! As a follow up, I sit with a small group of students and we use the Unifix cubes strips to practice measuring animals. This is a great activity when you are first getting started with measurement as I've realized the students aren't very familiar with how the rules actually work! HA! So I made the animal cards have start and ending lines and the Unifix cube strips fit exactly so that they can easily find the answer. I also like this activity to help students that may find the above activity a bit challenging. Everything is measured for them, but students must count how many objects tall or long it is. DAY 3 The next day I introduce the concept of how long something is in more detail. We review the rules poster and then discuss how some things are shorter and others are longer. I pre-cut strips of paper in various lengths (they are 'snakes') and hand them out to each student. We arrange them from shortest to longest. It's very similar to the name activity but it's much more challenging as the lengths are much different and some may even be the same! We also measure our feet! I have students take off their shoe and we trace around it. They show me where to start and stop measuring with their hands and I draw lines on their paper to help them. They choose a non-standard measuring tool and measure their foot! DAY 4 This is a cute video of Sid the Science Kid to show the students that helps explain measurement! I have a basket of crayons of various sizes (they are just crayons I collect from the baskets around the room!). I call a student to come to the front of the class and choose 3 crayons without looking. That student has to put them in order from shortest to longest. We play this simple game again and again! Students get to walk around the room and find objects to measure! I guide them with this worksheet - and print different ones so they aren't all using the same non-standard measurement too. So some worksheets may have them measuring with Unifix cubes, others with linking chains, etc. DAY 5 (picture coming soon!) We discuss the idea of height and I introduce this by choosing 2 students to come to the front and stand back to back. We talk about who is taller and who is shorter. I also explain that to measure each other using a non-standard measuring tool, it's often difficult to do so when the person is standing (I demonstrate this using linking chains). So I show them how we can lie down and use the tools to measure. Then I partner students up and have them practice showing where to start and end measuring each other. I give them a "Find It!" worksheet and ask them to search the room, finding objects that are shorter and longer than themselves and draw it on their paper. MATH CENTRE At my Math Centre, I leave out a variety of non-standard measuring tools in baskets for students to explore. I also encourage students to measure each other using apples! Yes, I pre-cut a basket full of clip art apples and they get such a kick out of using these! You can find all of these activities (and lesson plans, games and centres for Capacity, Weight, and Temperature) in my Measurement in Kindergarten pack on TpT. Here are my plans for teaching length and height for the week. You can download these lesson plans for FREE by clicking below.
STEM in Kindergarten? Absolutely! In this post, I share four easy activities that your kinders will thoroughly love.
We are exploring magnets here in kindergarten! We sorted objects between magnetic and not magnetic. I wanted the kids to be able to glue down their sort to display in the hallway. You could use tape or regular glue, but in the interest of time I opted for a glue gun. This SUPER cool temp glue gun (you have to buy special glue sticks but they are not expensive) eliminates the worry over burns! But like I said, tape works too. We have some magnet sorting in our science station
Pattern worksheets for preschool and kindergarten. These free worksheets will help your kids learn to recognize and complete patterns, and will also give practice recognizing basic shapes and letters. Worksheets from K5 Learning are pdf documents and are easy to print. No login required.
FREE printable Symmetry drawing activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. A fun art and math activity in one! Kids will complete the symmetrical pictures by drawing the other half.
This is a great resource for kindergarten teachers that work in a private school or daycare center and are not provided with an assessment tool. I have included a progress report and a full evaluation. They both use a three point grading scale. The assessments are based on the common core standards ...
KINDERGARTEN MATH - UNIT 3 I am so excited to have my new Measurement and Data kindergarten math unit posted and ready to share with you. So far this year, my sweet kinders have learned so much in math. We have mastered 1:1 correspondence, reading and writing numerals to 20, counting to 10
Practice skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s with cute skip counting craft. This math craft kindergarten is fun activity for spring learning.
Creating fairy tale story maps are a fun and engaging way to integrate literacy and social studies in kindergarten, first, or second grade.
Neat ideas for crafts parents can do at home with their kids, complete with ideas for every age group.
A blog dedicated to help teachers in preschool and kindergarten find quality, hands on educational activities for their homes and classrooms.
This past week we have been discussing what belonging to a community means, what communities we belong to (families, class/school, neighbourhoods, sports teams), and the people and places within these communities. We began by discussing the different places we would find in our community and why they are important. Then students had a chance to …
Project/Inquiry Based Learning has been a passion of mine ever since I discovered it about 5 years ago. Since then, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and transformed the way I teach from a typical Thematic Based style through baby steps taken each year and with the help of an amazing on-line community of teachers with the same passion (you all know who you are!). My first baby step was taking themes and science/social studies standards and making them more student lead and project based. I got rid of the two week time limit each theme had in the past and allowed more time for students to dig deeper. I found that students would take my broad theme (oceans) and desire to dig deeper into more specific parts of the theme (sharks, jellyfish, ect.). As time went on, I was able to take the biggest step and totally let go of my themes and allowed the children's interests drive my instruction, incorporating the standards through those interests. I am blessed enough to also teach in a district that does not mandate the curriculum I use. Curriculum programs are purchased to use as tools for our toolbox but not required. Us teachers are trusted and encouraged by our superintendent to write our own curriculum as long as the standards are met. My building principle also has that kind of faith in us as professionals! They know that when it comes to children learning what they need to learn, we are the experts! Project/Inquiry Based Learning is highly encouraged in all grades Pre-K through 12. Some wonder how I plan for this style of teaching and how it flows. Here are some of the tools that I use. Once I notice an interest from the students (usually found out through experiences set up for them to explore during play) , I find out what their knowledge and misconceptions are about the subject. Kind of like a KWL chart! I list all that they know about the subject we will dive into. Then I ask what they wonder. I list all of their questions. NOW I can plan! I take their wonderings and create a web map showing the different directions they want to take the inquiry and possible experiences that will help them find answers to their wonderings. I got this web map from the amazing Joanne Babalis and her amazing blog http://myclassroomtransformation.blogspot.com. On the back I have all of the Literacy and Math Standards listed so that I can highlight the ones we will focus on through the inquiry and project. I add any Science and Social Studies Standards to the bottom of the web map. Here is the link to the web map if you would like it: Web Organizer Here is the link to the Common Core Standards Sheet for Kindergarten Language and Math: Kindergarten CC Standards Once I organize my thoughts, I create my inquiry plan using a template I created based on one I found from a Texas school district. It was so long ago I have no memory of which district but if I find out I will add them to give them credit. Their form was 3 pages long. I tweaked it to fit it all on one page. I use this to show the objectives and vocabulary, plan the investigations and materials I will need, show how they will organize the data about what they have learned, possible projects that could result from the inquiry and how we will present the project to the community. Here is the link to this inquiry planner if you would like to download it: Inquiry/Project Planner The next step is to start the investigation phase. In early childhood I set out experiences for them to explore and document what they notice. We also do whole group and small group investigations through books, videos and hands-on experiences. As we answer questions, we add the answers to our wonder chart to show our new learning. We organize this data in a web map format for all to see. The start of an inquiry wall. Information is added to it as we learn. Once we have investigated we use organizational maps to show what we learn. In kindergarten it usually consists of web maps, circle maps, tree charts (can/have/are maps), and brace maps (to show part to whole). We will chose one or two to organize our data. The next step is the project. We take what we learn and create something to show it! The projects can be individual, small group, or whole group. Some examples of projects in our room have been turning an area of our room into an ocean, forest and sky to show how animals adapt in the winter. The kids signed up to be on the migration team, adaption team or hibernation team. They each became experts on their part during the investigation and worked on their part of the project. A cave, forest, sky and ocean were created to show what animals do in the winter. Animals were created, labeled and added to the habitats. A group interested in map making and migration created this map showing migration patterns of monarchs, geese and grey whales. Another project was our The Sound Exploration Area created for our school. They saw a need (an area to explore sound) investigated different ways of creating sound, organized the data and designed a Sound Exploration Area! An area for everyone in our school to explore sound which is in our science standards. They have also turned the inside of our room into a great hall and medeival kitchen and the outside of our room into a castle wall complete with moat and drawbridge after investigating castles! The outside of our castle. A map created by a group interested in maps and where different castles were found in the world. A big book created by a small group about who lived in castles. A small group project during our castle inquiry. They have created murals and big books to show their learning also. A mural planned and created by Kindergartners. The last step is the presentation to show what they had learned. The kids LOVE this part and I've never had a child refuse to present! They are so confident of what they have learned and proud of what they have done that they cannot wait to share it! I am always so impress with their speaking and listening skills during these presentations! Sometimes small groups go to other classrooms and present what they learned, sometimes we invite parents or other classes to our room to see our presentation, and sometimes we create a video to share with others. They create maps, big books, and, get to show off the projects created at this time! Showing what they have learned through these projects gives the projects an even bigger sense of purpose! They can't wait to show others what they have learned and done! Presenting different weapons used during medieval times. I have never had so much fun teaching in my 22 years as I have he past four years! I could never go back to the way I had done it I the past. The benefits of this way of teaching are not only meeting the standards (the old way did that too) but the 21st Century Skills they are forced to develope when they learn in this type of environment. When inquiring, investigating and creating within thier own interest, they are motivated to collaborate, problem solve, handle frustration, persist if things don't work the first time, and learn from their mistakes. They have to use critical thinking skills and develope research skills. When kids develop these skills, they can learn ANYTHING! My new passion that I am learning to incorporate in my classroom is Playbased Learning! I have been amazed by the learning taking place in this way also....but that's another post! SaveSave
Free, fun and useful Kindergarten - 1st Grade, Common Core aligned lesson plans, math games, calendars, behavior charts, materials and more!
Find 10 free kindergarten ipad apps for reading and math. This list includes apps that can be great independent practice or for centers.
K5 Learning outlines what kids learn in kindergarten.
Flowers, insects, and sunshine! Just in time for the month of May, and these Transitional Kindergarten May Worksheets! These printables have been a life saver for me! In the midst of distance learning, I have been sending these electronically to my parents to help my TK students continue their learning at home. You can also...
Woot woot! This post was featured on the TpT blog! You can see it here. Never underestimate the importance of teaching routines. In every classroom and every grade level... but ESPECIALLY in Kindergaten. And in Kindergarten,
I work really hard to listen and observe the kids to see what they are interested in. I like to use their interests to guide the curriculum...
A complete kindergarten math curriculum that covers a full 36-week school year, just open and go! Affordable, engaging, short lessons, and fun!
There's so much more to do with kindergartners than finger painting.
I finally discovered how to unlock my student's motivation and helped them become experts at skip counting in kindergarten overnight.
Do your kids love to draw? This shape creation book is a fun way to let your kiddos show their creativity while they are practicing shapes....
Setting up a kindergarten classroom at the beginning of the year can be an exciting, yet overwhelming. Whether you are a student teacher, or this is your last year teaching elementary school, I'm here to share
Looking for fun and engaging kindergarten social studies resources? Check out the interactive notebook that your students will love!
It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s
It is amazing how many kiddos start school without ever touching a pair of scissors. Scissor skills are usually poor at the beginning of k...
Do you love to read to your students? If your answer is yes, which I am sure it is check out this list of "must read" books. It is recommend for Kindergarten but any age should enjoy them. Reading a book to my students is one of my favorite things to do as a teacher. I love the way kids get so engaged in a story. It makes me feel like I am five years old again. Well here is the list....enjoy! 100 Books
Woot woot! This post was featured on the TpT blog! You can see it here. Never underestimate the importance of teaching routines. In every classroom and every grade level... but ESPECIALLY in Kindergaten. And in Kindergarten,
130 Kindergarten Journal Prompts If you need free kindergarten journal prompts to keep writing fun, you've come to the right place. Not only is this article, there are more helpful posts all throughout the blog. After
Do you want to kick off the kindergarten school year the right way? Get the full list of the top 8 do's and don'ts
KINDERGARTEN MATH - UNIT 1 I am thrilled to be sharing this huge Counting and Cardinality Unit with you! This is the math unit we start the year with in kindergarten. The kids love all of the hands-on activities we get to do, and I love how easy it is to keep them engaged.
Kids will have fun while learning where do I Live with this printable activity perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
