Measurement Literature
Millions to Measure
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Author: Cindy Neuschwander
Summary: Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician discovers how length, weight, and volume measurements were created. He goes through the book and explains each of the new measurements to the children. The measurements are all metric units. This book helps discover the units and makes it easy for the children to figure out the patterns in the metric system.
Integration: This book could be used in a lesson introducing the metric system. It includes measuring with meters, liters and grams. Students could then experiment with the new measuring system by using it to measure objects in the classroom.
Citation: Neuschwander, C. (2003) Millions to Measure. Harper Collins.
Summary: Marvelosissimo the Mathematical Magician discovers how length, weight, and volume measurements were created. He goes through the book and explains each of the new measurements to the children. The measurements are all metric units. This book helps discover the units and makes it easy for the children to figure out the patterns in the metric system.
Integration: This book could be used in a lesson introducing the metric system. It includes measuring with meters, liters and grams. Students could then experiment with the new measuring system by using it to measure objects in the classroom.
Citation: Neuschwander, C. (2003) Millions to Measure. Harper Collins.
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!
![Picture](/uploads/9/2/4/5/9245768/2419637.jpg?0)
Author: Marilyn Burns
Summary: This book teaches children about perimeter through a funny story involving a big dinner party. Throughout the book, the family in the story combines the tables and chairs in order to make various sized tables with different amounts of chairs which allows students to see how different squares and rectangles have different perimeters depending on the shape and area.
Integration: This book could be used to reinforce the idea of the relationship between area and perimeter by adding, removing, or changing the placement of square units.The answers to all the math problems are in the back of the book for teachers to use. This also is a great way of showing students how math like this is used in real-life and how fun (and funny) it can be.
Citation: Burns, M.(2008). Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! Scholastic Press.
Summary: This book teaches children about perimeter through a funny story involving a big dinner party. Throughout the book, the family in the story combines the tables and chairs in order to make various sized tables with different amounts of chairs which allows students to see how different squares and rectangles have different perimeters depending on the shape and area.
Integration: This book could be used to reinforce the idea of the relationship between area and perimeter by adding, removing, or changing the placement of square units.The answers to all the math problems are in the back of the book for teachers to use. This also is a great way of showing students how math like this is used in real-life and how fun (and funny) it can be.
Citation: Burns, M.(2008). Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! Scholastic Press.
Measuring Penny
![Picture](/uploads/9/2/4/5/9245768/660461.jpg?0)
Author: Loreen Leedy
Summary: This is a great book that shows just how many different measurable aspects can come from just one thing. This young girl's assignment in school is to measure something at home and measure it in as many ways as possible. When she gets home she gets bugged by her dog and decides that's what she's going to measure. Not only does she measure the usual things like it's height, weight, ect, she compares its size to other dogs, measures the food it eats, how much time it takes to care for it, and she even uses unique nonstandard units like dog biscuits.
Integration: This book can be used to show students measuring isn't just something they need to do in school. It gives them other examples of measuring and shows them real world applications. This could be used at the beginning of measurement to show students all the different ways they can measure and to get their minds flowing with creativity about it.
Citation: Leedy, L. (2000). Measuring penny. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Summary: This is a great book that shows just how many different measurable aspects can come from just one thing. This young girl's assignment in school is to measure something at home and measure it in as many ways as possible. When she gets home she gets bugged by her dog and decides that's what she's going to measure. Not only does she measure the usual things like it's height, weight, ect, she compares its size to other dogs, measures the food it eats, how much time it takes to care for it, and she even uses unique nonstandard units like dog biscuits.
Integration: This book can be used to show students measuring isn't just something they need to do in school. It gives them other examples of measuring and shows them real world applications. This could be used at the beginning of measurement to show students all the different ways they can measure and to get their minds flowing with creativity about it.
Citation: Leedy, L. (2000). Measuring penny. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Me and the Measure of Things
![Picture](/uploads/9/2/4/5/9245768/7661604.jpg?0)
Author: Joan Sweeney
Summary: This book shows children how to measure all different things using many different units of measure. It also shows comparisons like how many ounces in a gallon and shows pictures to also compare. For example, she shows how big she was when she was born and it shows her cat laying down next to her, showing that she was about as big as her cat. It's a clever way to show children how to convert and measure.
Integration: This can be used when students are getting into converting measurements. It shows different units of measurement and how many of one are in another. When they start converting themselves and get stuck, you can bring this book back out and say remember what she did for that? It'll help them get a picture in their heads when they get stuck, like the big G we went over in class.
Citation: Sweeney, J. (2001). Me and the measure of things. New York, NY: Dragonfly Books.
Summary: This book shows children how to measure all different things using many different units of measure. It also shows comparisons like how many ounces in a gallon and shows pictures to also compare. For example, she shows how big she was when she was born and it shows her cat laying down next to her, showing that she was about as big as her cat. It's a clever way to show children how to convert and measure.
Integration: This can be used when students are getting into converting measurements. It shows different units of measurement and how many of one are in another. When they start converting themselves and get stuck, you can bring this book back out and say remember what she did for that? It'll help them get a picture in their heads when they get stuck, like the big G we went over in class.
Citation: Sweeney, J. (2001). Me and the measure of things. New York, NY: Dragonfly Books.
Curricular Integrations
Science
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- Measure the length of sticks, twigs, and branches.
- Measure the perimeter of leaves, circumference of pine cones, etc.
- Estimate and measure the lengths of different bugs during a bugs unit. Then we could talk about the sizes of the bugs. This could be an introduction to a bugs unit to get the students thinking about different bugs and their sizes. Then I could have the students pick the largest and smallest bug that we talked about and draw them to scale next to each other.
Literature
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- Using sentence structures to compare the lengths, heights, weights, etc of things in the classroom.
- Journal about challenges in math activities. Write about what was hard and if it became easier as they went along.
- Students would get an envelope with a bunch of words cut out. They would estimate the lengths of the words and then measure the words. Then they would make sentences using the words. We could play a game and they would be allowed to use only a certain length to make their sentence. They could use less space if they wanted but not more. They would have to try to get as close as possible to the allotted space. For example: I would tell the students they could use one foot of space. Then they would build a sentence that was close to one foot in length, knowing how long each word is. Then we would continue this game with different lengths.
Social Studies
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- Using an enlarged map, measure the area and/or perimeter of states that are easy to measure. i.e. Wyoming and Colorado
- I would give students a map and have them measure distances to different cities. I would make a similar table with four columns. In order the columns would read city 1, city 2, estimation, actual length. The students would choose two cities and then estimate how far away they think they are from each other. Then the students would measure the actual distance using inches or centimeters, whichever is more appropriate. This would give the students some map awareness and get them think about how far apart different cities are.
Technology
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- Using the SMART board students could draw shapes like triangles and squares. Then they could measure the lengths and areas of those shapes. Further discussion could be conducted to compare the shapes.
- IXL is a great website for students to use both at home and in class. Students can go on it after they have finished their activities in math workshop or during a study hall.
- Educreation is an app for the iPad. It allows students to complete a problem while talking and recording at the same time. Then the teacher can upload the student's response and review it. This allows the teacher to better understand a student's problem solving process.