Mathematics Grade 1
Strand: MEASUREMENT AND DATA (1.MD.) Standard 1.MD.2
Mathematics Grade 1
Strand: MEASUREMENT AND DATA (1.MD.) Standard 1.MD.1
Large Groups
A children's book is used as a basis for activities which ask students to measure objects in the classroom and make comparisons about them.
Additional Resources
Books
Inch by Inch, by Leo Lionni; ISBN 0688132839
How Big is a Foot?, by Rolf Myller; ISBN 044040495-9
Twelve Snails to One Lizard: A Tale of Mischief & Measurement, by Susan Hightower; ISBN- 10:0689804520 or ISBN-13:9780439154307
Counting on Frank, by Rod Clement; ISBN-10:039570393X or ISBN-13:978-0395703939
Measuring Penny, by Loreen Leedy; ISBN-10:0805065725 or ISBN-13:978-0805065725
Students will understand the attribute of length, develop a process of measuring, understand concepts related to units of measure, use estimating to measure, and learn how to use these processes in everyday life. This lesson also allows the teacher to integrate literature into the mathematics curriculum.
1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude.
2. Develop social skills and ethical responsibility
Invitation to Learn
Ask students to estimate about how many books tall they are. (Students could use their Math Journals to measure with.) Have some students share their approximations and then verify the results. Discuss with the students that what they just did was use a nonstandard unit of measurement to measure the length of their bodies. Following the investigation, briefly review what it means to measure the length of an object. Explain to the students that today they will be measuring objects in a different way, as opposed to using a ruler.
Instructional Procedures
Curriculum Extensions/Adaptations/ Integration
Family Connections
Research Basis
Battista, M. (1994). Teacher Beliefs and the Reform Movement in Mathematics Education. Phi Delta Kappan.75(6) 462-470.
Recent efforts to make the mathematics curriculum consistent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Standards" will fail unless teachers' beliefs about mathematics change. Teacher educators, school officials, political leaders, and teachers themselves must first acknowledge a serious problem with the way our society views mathematics. The next step is reforming the institutions affecting teachers' education and working environment.
McClain, K., Cobb, P., Gravemeijer, K., and Estes, B. (1999). Developing Mathematical Reasoning Within the Context of Measurement. In Stiff, V. and Curcio, R. (Eds.) Developing Mathematical Reasoning in Grades K-12, 1999 Yearbook. (93-106). Reston, VA; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
This paper describes how one group of students developed personally meaningful ways to reason mathematically within the context of measurement. Episodes taken from a first grade classroom in which a 4-month teaching experiment was conducted are presented. One of the goals of the teaching experiment was to develop instructional sequences designed to support first grade students' construction of meaningful understandings for measurement and mental computation and estimation strategies for numbers up to 100. A primary focus when developing the instructional sequences was to support students' multiple interpretations of problem situations. The episodes provide a setting for the examination of measurement as a context for supporting students' construction of sophisticated ways to think and reason mathematically. The intent of the instructional sequences developed in the course of the teaching experiment is outlined first. The rest of the paper consists of descriptions of episodes from the classroom that highlight students' ability to reason mathematically while investigating issues related to measurement.