Successful Measurement Experiences in Kindergarten

Reading through our chapter on measurement got me thinking about how I can teach this important concept in my own classroom someday. As a kindergarten teacher, what is the process I should take in introducing measurement that makes sense to very young children? What kinds of activities should I focus on that serve as building blocks for a lifelong curiosity of math? Are there age-appropriate ways I can introduce the topics of time, volume, area, and temperature to my students? After some digging, I discovered that the folks at www.kindergarten-lessons.com provided all the answers I was searching for.

Measurement should become a significant part of daily life for kindergartners. They should learn through play, exploration, and modeling. Measurement activities ought to be stimulating and fun and should also include the concrete and familiar. In addition, when introducing the concept of measurement to kindergartners, the teacher must make every effort to use appropriate mathematical vocabulary. This may include terms such as: taller than, shorter than, wider than, narrower than, large, small, volume, area, length, weight, time, hour, minute, second, Fahrenheit and Celsius, degree, cold, warm, hot, centimeter, meter, inches, feet, yards, distance, decrease, increase, lighter, heavier, morning, afternoon, night, today, tomorrow, yesterday, day, week, month, year, thermometer, calendar, ruler, clock and balance scale. Instead of saying, “Paul, please pass me the blocks. “, a teacher should say, “Paul, please pass me all of the green octagon blocks.” Making every effort to use descriptive and appropriate terminology will ensure that students will learn by example and become proficient in understanding measurement.

When introducing the topic of measurement, teachers should always allow children to play with the physical objects that will later be used for instruction. This could mean setting out items for play a couple of weeks before a measurement lesson commences. Giving children the time they need for exploration will allow them to become familiar with the objects and give them opportunity to begin to formulate some of their own ideas about measurement. For example, if a teacher is going to introduce the concept of volume, he or she should bring out the water table and a variety of differently-shaped containers for students to use during free-choice time. The water table is a fantastic place to learn about volume because students will see how larger and smaller cups differ in the amount of liquid they can hold.

After the teacher has allowed for a period of play and investigation, he or she can begin more formal instruction by first demonstrating what the activity involves. For example, if the class is to venture into an activity in using non-standard measurement techniques, the teacher should introduce the materials needed and then show the children what is expected. So, if the students are to learn how to measure the width of their chair seats by lining up crayons, the teacher should model the process from start to finish. First, it’s necessary to explain the reason for only using identically sized crayons. “What would happen if we used some crayons that were long and some that were very short? Would our answer be very accurate?” Following this introduction, the teacher should show the students how to line up the crayons end to end, count them out to determine the width of the chair seat, and then articulate, “This chair is 4 crayons wide.” The modeling should not stop there, though. It is important that the teacher walk through the entire measuring process a couple of times so the students understand all of the steps and are then equipped to perform their own measurement investigations later on.

After some experience in measuring concrete objects is gained, kindergartners should be prepared to begin recording their results with a picture. This process can be modeled as well. For example, if the students need to compare the weights of 2 items—a pencil and a stapler, the teacher can bring each of these items to the table, place them on the balance scale, and then show the students how the heavier object will tip the scale downward as the lighter of the two will rise up. On a large chart with a “heavy” and “light” column, the teacher can place pictures of each of the weighed objects in the correct column and then give their justification. Including charts or recording sheets will meld together the children’s’ understanding of concrete objects and abstract symbols. This is known as the picture, representational, or connecting stage.

Although having a solid understanding of measurement through the use of non-standard measuring tools is vital, it is also important for teachers to introduce standard measurement concepts as well. After many opportunities in playing with measurement activities, students should have some exposure with rulers, yardsticks, and basic vocabulary terms such as liter, gram, ounce, inch, and hour.

As a mom of 4, I already have some experience in introducing little ones to important measurement concepts—although I never followed a step-by-step process as is highlighted on this website. We simply explored household objects that were used every day. We organized measuring cups by size, made cookies from scratch using a favorite recipe, practiced pouring sudsy water in different containers at the kitchen sink, and even measured furniture around the house with a piece of yarn. These same kinds of stimulating and useful activities should carry over into the kindergarten classroom because they incorporate recognizable objects for young children and they are easy enough to practice right at home with loved ones. As stated on www.kindergarten-lessons.com/teaching-measurement.html “Use real objects to help children understand measurement concepts.” The teacher’s goal should be to bring in familiar objects that can remain easily accessible for exploration.

When teaching about time, the teacher should discuss concepts such as longer days, shorter days, morning and night, and weekends and weekdays. He or she can also show the class how to keep track of time with an analog clock and also take the time to discuss the parts of the clock’s face. Having the students involved in a daily calendar chart and discussing upcoming holidays or school events in terms of time are also vitally important.

Volume is best explained at the water and/or sand table because students are attracted to pouring, sifting, comparing, and dumping. Here, the kindergarten teacher should provide a variety of tall, short, wide, and narrow containers, along with spoons, shovels, and even medicine droppers for collecting the water or sand. Including a set of measuring cups and spoons would be a perfect addition to the sensory table because these are likely items the children have prior experience with. While students take the time to explore the table, the teacher can observe and ask how the cups compare. “Did the short and wide cup hold the same amount as the tall, thin cup?” “How many medicine droppers are needed to fill the ¼ cup?” “If you want to fill the sand bucket to the top in the shortest amount of time, which one of these shovels would be the best choice—the long and deep shovel or the short and shallow shovel? Can you show me how you came to this conclusion?”

The concept of area can be shown by comparing 2 similarly shaped items that are of unequal size. For example, the students can learn about area by going for a walk around the schoolyard in autumn to search for 2 similarly shaped leaves that are not the same size. The children can then practice determining the area of each of the leaves by filling the surface with Legos, pencil-tip erasers, buttons, beads, or dice. How do the leaves’ areas compare? How many ___ does the larger of the two leaves need to fill the entire space? How many of that same item is required to fill up the smaller of the two leaves? This activity can be altered to tie in with many different themes, holidays, or seasons throughout the year. Providing year-long area explorations will ensure that kindergartners become skillful in this important concept.

Using a daily weather station is an ideal way to explore the concept of temperature in the kindergarten classroom. The teacher can create his or her own chart complete with the days of the week, the date, and the month along the top, and picture cues of the weather choices (cold, warm, and hot) along the margin. Precut colored strips of paper that will fit the columns can be used to record the daily weather. With each new day, a student can measure the length of paper strip to reach the appropriate type of weather and then adhere it to the chart. For hot days, the strip will be long, while warm days will coincide with a medium-sized piece, and cold days will have a short strip of paper. Students should then evaluate any differences in weather from day to day by noting the differences in lengths of paper strips. Was yesterday’s paper strip longer than today’s? How many days were hot? Were there any cold days during the week?

Successfully teaching measurement with familiar and stimulating activities early on is vital for building up a child’s love of mathematics. Through play, exploration, and modeling, students will remain curious, connect the concrete with the abstract, and become skillful enough in using the techniques they’ve learned in kindergarten to remain valuable throughout their lifetimes.