Measuring with Teacher’s Feet

In this lesson, students use nonstandard units to measure the distance between objects found in their classroom. They create a nonstandard unit by using an outline of the teacher’s foot and cutting around it to use as a “measurer.” Students generate a list of four or five objects in the classroom from which they will measure the distance to their work space.

Measuring with Our Foot

Students measure the same distances as in the previous lesson using an outline cutout of their own foot. This enables students to practice using nonstandard units and to compare the measurement totals using their feet and the teacher’s foot.

Learning to Measure with Ladybug

The mathematical foci of this lesson are geometric concepts, location, navigation, direction, and spatial relationships and measurement concepts, using nonstandard units to measure a distance, and the iteration of units, measurement by using the same unit of measure repeatedly to determine the total. Students practice measuring with multiple units and a single unit following the methods modeled by the teacher and those appropriate for their level of understanding.

Handy Map

This lesson engages students in creating a map of their hands. It provides purpose for using directional or positional words with mapping. The teacher draws a map of his or her hands and begins mapping them using words the students suggest. This allows the teacher to assess positional concepts students currently know and to build on that knowledge. Students create a simple map.

Facing Up

In this lesson, students create a map of their face and practice locating different parts using the geometric and measurement concepts they have learned in previous lessons, including location, navigation, spatial relationships, and measurement with nonstandard units. Students reproduce their face and describe it to reinforce their knowledge and skills of measuring and mapping. Using these familiar territories connects mathematics with daily encounters.

Three Sides

In this lesson, students compare and contrast shapes using attribute blocks. Because the equilateral triangle (a triangle with congruent sides and congruent angles) is the most common example used in textbooks and other reference materials, this is an important opportunity for you to help students realize that other triangles exist and that triangles can have angles of different measures. The lesson is designed to accommodate multiple learning styles and intelligences.

Tracing and Drawing

In this lesson, students continue to discuss attributes of triangles. They  trace and draw triangles individually. Students recognize objects in their environment that are shaped like triangles and explain to the class how they recognized the shape.

Geoboards

Students use appropriate vocabulary to describe shapes to their classmates. Students focus on the properties of shapes to develop mental images of objects from descriptors. They create multiple representations of triangles using geoboards, string, and crayons and paper.

Designing a Virtual Path

In this activity, students use their knowledge of number, measurement and geometry to design a "virtual path" which enables a ladybug to hide under a leaf. They also develop navigational skills by testing to see if their path is accurate and revising their solutions.

Ladybug Mazes

In this activity, students plan a series of moves that will navigate a ladybug through a maze. Their plans turn the ladybug at the appropriate corners and keep it on a path without crossing the walls. This activity helps students gain experience in estimating length and angle measures.