Measuring our Bodies

Mental Math: review the difference between feet and inches.

Mini-Lesson: measurement

Engagement: I will explain to the students that while today we use measurement such as inches, and feet, we are going to pretend that we are back a long time ago and measure our bodies with string

Explore/Explain: I will show the students how we can measure our bodies without using a ruler. I will show them that sometimes it is hard to use a ruler to measure our arms and legs, and so we are going to use string to measure our bodies. The teacher will demonstrate measuring her body by saying, “Today we are going to measure our bodies by using string. Sometimes it is hard to use a ruler to measure our bodies and therefore we need to use something like string first. What we are going to do is with a partner we are going to cut string to the length of our bodies. Student A will help me measure my arm.” The teacher will cut the length of the string to measure her arm. “Now , I am going to measure it with the ruler. After I measure this I can see that my arm is 9 inches long. So I will glue the string to my book, and write 9 inches.” The teacher will demonstrate how to glue the string to her page and will write the 9 inches.

Whole Group Practice: Students will pair off with a partner and will practice using the string to measure their bodies.

Link: I will inform the students that they need to use the string to measure their bodies. The students will be given yarn, scissors, and glue, as well as the body book. The students are to help cut the string to the length of the body part and then use the ruler to measure the string.


Independent Work: Students will work in pairs to help measure their bodies with the string. The teacher will walk around to make sure that the students understand how to measure the string. The teacher will stay with students that are struggling and will group students based upon understanding (i.e high student with a low student if necessary).

Reflection: what went well for you and what do you need more practice with?

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