Measurement Unit

WOW. It has been FOREVER since I have blogged. I vaguely remember thinking, "Oh gosh, it will be easy to blog during student teaching...how busy can I possibly be?" Boy oh boy was I ever wrong! I have been very overwhelmed (the good kind though). I am teaching everything but the last 45 minutes of the day so planning, organization,  and enthusiasm have been essential! I finished up my unit (yes, I have already taught my unit, hard to believe!) last week and I was amazed at how well it went. The kids absolutely loved the activities and numerous kids said, "It doesn't even feel like we are doing Math!" SUCCESS. I decided instead of making a boring update with all that I did, I would give some helpful hints of how to be successful for your unit (and I have TONS of pictures to share along the way!) So here goes nothing.

1. STAY ORGANIZED!!! This can be one of the hardest things to do during your unit since you have so many things going at once, but the more organized you can stay the better.

I kept a binder with clear pages for each day of my unit. I kept all of my original copies in here in case I needed to give them to another teacher or I wanted to reference them. I clear containers that I kept copies and activities for each day in. This kept me organized day to day and allowed me to know exactly where all my supplies were. This helped a ton!

Keep a folder with all your student assessments! You will need to analyze each formative assessment so have a place that you can keep all the student work so you can later refer to them in your unit when you are making assessment tables :)

 Have all of your supplies for the kids set out BEFORE the lesson begins! I had lots of hands on activities and had I not organized everything beforehand I would have died out of mass chaos going on in my classroom (there is still probably going to be mass chaos even if you are organized, so don't worry!)

2. Create engaging activities...even if it takes a little extra time! It's hard to take the time to create activities, but believe me, it pays off! The kids LOVE innovative ideas and activities that make learning fun! I spent LOTS of time creating my own worksheets and activities (with the obvious help of fellow bloggers and Pinterest :) but it was soooo worth it in the end! I was pleased with the learning that occurred and the kids had fun in the process :)

  Non-standard measurement with honey comb cereal and twizzlers. Kids love candy, so use it whenever you can!!

Measurement Olympics!! Kinesthetic, fun, AND ENGAGING!!

 

 The beanstalk I attempted to create (I think my kids are MUCH more artistic than I am :)

 

 Every day we did a different object for our "Estimation Station." The kids got so into this and it helped them practice measurement and estimation all at the same time!

 

Countdown to Valentine's Day...kept the kids engaged and looking forward to the holiday!!

 

 We created meter long links to see how long a kilometer really was. 1000 meters!!!

 

3. Encourage cooperative learning groups!! The kids love working together and it will impress you CT and CI if you use them...so do it!! It's fun and engaging and it boosts the students' confidence.

 

  Measuring the length a toy car traveled at a measuring station.

 

Candy bar measurement...another measuring station!

 

 Tracing and measuring a teammates body from a lesson based off of the book, "Jim and the Beanstalk" by Raymond Briggs.

 

4. Allow yourself, and your students, to be creative! I don't know about anyone else's kids, but mine LOVE anything have to do with drawing, coloring, and creating! Lessons that involved the kids doing any of these things always turned out well :)

 

 We read the book "Actual Size" by Steve Jenkins and then took animals from the book and the kids re-created them and then measured them at actual size. This was a walking stick that is 22 inches long!

Gian anteater...7 feet long!!

  Goliath frog

 

12 inch long moth!

 

 I created a visual for the kids to remember conversions! This was a meter stick with 100 beads glued to it to signify that 100 centimeters=1 meter

 

5. Utilize children's literature!! My kids loved reading books and then relating it to a lesson. They were always super engaged in the story and did a great job of using the book during the rest of the lesson :)

 

  6. Display student work and give quick feedback! When the kids know their work will be displayed, they will work that much harder to do their best, quality work. Beyond this, giving quick feedback is helpful. If a student struggled with an assignment, pull them aside and help them one-on-one so you don't leave them behind as you move onto more difficult material.

Our animals in the hallway :)

 

 Our links that we made to demonstrate how long a kilometer really is!

 

Hilarious response.

 

 At one of the measuring stations the kids created measurement riddles. Some were sooo good. The answer to this was a piece of candy corn!

 

 BEST RIDDLE EVER!! The answer was a pillow! 

 

7. HAVE FUN!!! It can get overwhelming at times with all the tedious things that are due for our portfolio...but just have fun and don't get caught up in the stress of it all!! Focus on teaching and the details for the portfolio will come later :)

Had to cut out the kids faces, but if you could see their smiles then you would know that we are having a great time!!

So there you have it...my advice to surviving the unit! It is getting time for bed (haha oh the joys of having a full time job) but maybe I will get around to adding all my worksheets to a google doc tomorrow so you can use anything I did :) Best of luck to you all who are planning and implementing a unit. It's a great experience...so enjoy it!!

Happy Teaching!

Ms. Boyers