Measurement Match It!

One of the the most powerful techniques to use in teaching is student prior knowledge through discourse and facilitation of learning. Below is a mini-lesson that can be facilitated by 4th grade teachers to introduce the following Student Expectation.

"Identify relative sizes of measurement units within the customary and metric systems." 4.8A

First lets look at the implication of the SE's verb.

Identify: this suggests that students simply need a point of reference to select from as it pertains to length, mass and volume.

Now, this SE is one that supports a readiness expectation wherein students must be able to solve problems in measurement that deal with conversion. In order to convert, however, students have to have a point of reference to help them know whether they are converting a larger unit into a smaller one and vice versa!

Materials: sentence strips, pictures of real life items, chart paper per group, markers per group

Facilitation Procedures:

1. With your students sitting in cooperative groups, distribute a sentence strip paper representing a source of measurement (length, mass, volume (in the customary or metric system) and a series of pictures that relate to each unit within that system. Give each group a different strip.

2. Have groups talk about which pictures match with which units. Encourage students to justify their answers with each other.

3. Once groups have matched each picture with its unit, have students record on their chart paper their reason for each match (with their marker).

4. Allow groups to get up, and rotate to another groups' table and analyze/critique their answers. Using a marker of a different color, encourage the group to either add their own justifications or change that groups answers and justify why.

5. Continue this rotation until all groups have visited each table and had a chance to discuss, analzye and prove (adjust) each of the systems of measurement.

The pictures for this activity can be found on the following website/blog site:

"Measurement Charts" are the freebies she provides!

This mini-lesson activity is great right before allowing students to break into their stations or centers and at your small group table it would be beneficial to help students underand this concept futher by facilitating deeper discussions and providing hands on exeriences like the following:

"Would the mass of a penny be best described as 4mg, 2.5mg or 0.5mg?" Then allowing students to measure (hands-on) that penny and justify why.

This type of exposure can be powerful in a station as well.

Composite Perimeter with Cuisenaire Rods

I was meeting with one of my teachers about a new 4th grade TEK and as we were hashing out some ideas on creative ways to approach this TEK, I begin to think about some of the manipulatives on my shelf. One of the most under-used manipulative is the Cuisenaire Rods! #ButWhy?

It's possibly one of the most mysterious and misunderstood manipulative. After all they're just a lot of colored blocks of different sizes, right? WRONG! Actually, each block carries with it an undisclosed but very real value! Within this mysterious truth, there are varied numeration activities you can use to develop your students understanding.

• Missing facts
• Strip Diagram (models) for addition and subtraction
• Exponential growth/patterns

...to name a few!

Today, I want to share my thoughts with you concerning the following 4th grade TEK (which is also echoed in 5th grade):

"Solve problems related to perimeter [and area] of rectangles where dimensions are whole numbers" 4.5D

"Represent and solve problems related to perimeter [and/or area and related to volume]."

5.4H

If you've taught 4th for any amount of years, you know perimeter has come a long way (in reference to how its tested). Back in the day, students were simply responsible for being able to calculate the distance around a regular shape (rectangle or square).

Now, irregular and composite shapes are part of the expectation as well.

So how do we assist students in utilizing the basic concept of "adding up all the sides" of a figure to find perimeter to apply it to a composite figure like the one above?

Well obviously there's the "sit & get" method. Teacher places a sample problem under the document camera (or projects it on the SmartBoard) and students watch the teacher demonstrate how to solve it!


But I'd like to submit that we not bore our students and more importantly that we present to them a more concrete approach to understanding and even figuring out a solution on their own. Will they struggle? Absolutely. But concrete understanding is more long term than memorizing.

So first, play with this model yourself until you're comfortable enough to present it to your students.

1. Pull those Cuisenaire rods from off your shelf (and dust them off) LOL!!

 

 

 2. Give each group or pair of students their own bag. Allow them to explore with the values by facilitating the following question:

"If a white square unit has a value of 1, can you determine the values of the other colored blocks?"

 

(Give them a few minutes to engage in math discourse with their partner(s) and develop their own methods for determining the values of the remaining blocks). *You may find that some students critically think by placing two colors together to determine the value of another. Others may line up various square units to find the value of a block...while some still may simply line them up by height*

 

Allow them an opportunity to share their groups' method.

 

3. After establishing the value of each, build your own composite figure. *Hint: Make sure you've determined ahead of time which blocks you will use in your example.

As you can see I have a total width of 10 (orange block) and a total length of 8 (brown block).

4. Here's where the critical thinking and thus the development of the concept will erupt!

Have students determine "which 2 (color) blocks might equal the length of the (10) orange block." *Hint: If need be, help them by suggesting they only look at the horizontal blocks first.

They should uncover that a blue block (6) is part of the length of the orange block (10) and a length of 4 (the purple block) is needed.

This concept will help them see part of their solution for solving a missing side is to add up the smaller sides that compose the longer side that runs the same direction. Facilitate this discussion with probing questions:

• "What relationship did we see with the long block and the 2 shorter blocks?"
• "What did all three blocks have in common?"

5. Have them try this same technique with the vertical sides of the composite figure.

If the brown block has a value of 8, which two blocks do we need to consider to find the compatible sides? (yellow and green)

You might ask:

• "What are the values of the yellow and green block combined?"
• "If the yellow block has a value of 5, what might be the value of the green block?"

6. Finally students can label the lengths of the blocks and calculate the perimeter of the composite figure.

Perimeter = 10 + 5 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 8 = 36 (units)



The following website has a great interactive lesson and activity to reiterate this strategy.
(click below)

Playing with Perimeter and Area

I'd admonish teachers to work with students to develop a colorful anchor chart that visually stimulates students and gives them a point to refer back to.

A few final things:

1. This would make for an excellent hands-on mini-lesson prior to getting into a guided math or station rotation.

2. This may also suffice as the instruction you complete with your small group at your horseshoe (small group) table during Guided Math or station time.

3. Be sure that after handling the concrete models, you expose students to opportunities to demonstrate (represent) and solve this concept on paper. *As modeled in the anchor chart, I would even encourage use of colors in their drawings for your visual learners!

Let me know how it worked for you and your students! I welcome feedback!

 

Websites:
www.sohcahtoa.org.uk
www.pixshark.com