Measurement Teaching Resources
Is your math class ready to dive into length measurement, measuring objects, and more measurement practice? Say hello to printable measurement worksheets, games, and digital activities created by teachers for elementary teachers!
This collection of teaching resources was created by our expert math teachers to help students meet Common Core and state-level standards. Each printable and digital download has undergone a rigorous review by the teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure they’re student-ready — so you can cut down on lesson planning time!
New to teaching this part of the math curriculum? Our teacher team knows what it’s like to suddenly teach a brand-new grade level, so we’ve put together a quick guide to teaching measurement!
What Are the 4 steps of Teaching and Learning Measurement?
Elementary students have to learn a long list of measurement concepts during their stint in elementary school, including:
- length
- liquid volume
- elapsed time
- mass (weight)
- area
- volume of three-dimensional figures
The good news for teachers: Most measurement concepts have very real-world applications for students. That means there's a whole world of ways to get students excited about reading a ruler or tape measure or weighing heavy objects on a scale.
But before you can get there, let's start with the basic steps to work through when you're teaching students how to measure ... well ... anything!
- Direct comparison — One of the earliest steps of learning measurement is learning the attributes that are being measured. For example, students need to learn what length is if they're ever going to measure it. That's where direct comparison (and step 2, indirect comparison), come in. If you put 2 objects side by side, students can directly compare which is longer and which is shorter and start to understand how to measure an object.
- Indirect comparison — What happens when you can't directly compare two objects? You can add a third as a reference point for indirect comparison, thereby increasing student understanding of the attribute being measured.
- Measuring with non-standard units or informal units — Just as students need to understand the attribute of measuring, they also need to understand the concept of the units we use to measure such as inches or pounds. Using non-standard units is the first step to teaching the concept of units, offering students the chance to work with different objects, counting how many of these "units" it takes to make up another. This is the fundamental base of measurement.
- Measuring with standard units — Finally, in the final step of teaching measurement, students move on to using the formal units of measurement and learn to use measurement instruments.
Why Is Teaching Measurement Important?
There are concrete uses for learning measurement that will surely spring to mind — from using a tape measure to measure a space in a home to weighing ingredients when baking to determining the capacity of a juice glass before pouring in the liquid. These are all means for quantifying our environment.
But the benefits of teaching students about measuring lines with a ruler or figuring out mass measurements from largest to smallest go well beyond the obvious. Learning to measure helps students develop spatial and number skills.
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Parts of a Clock Anchor Chart
Familiarize students with the analog clock face, hands and other parts of a clock with a printable poster created for the primary classroom.
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Perimeter and Area Dice Game
Use this area and perimeter dice game as a math center activity when teaching area and perimeter to your 3rd and 4th graders.
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Measurement Conversion Game - SCOOT!
Grab a handy set of 24 measurement conversion task cards to use as a whole class scoot activity.
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Free Telling Time to the Minute - Worksheet Pack
Practice telling time to the minute by writing the digital time and drawing the hands on analog clocks.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Worksheets for Beginners
Download a pack of differentiated Elapsed Time worksheets to help your students learn to calculate elapsed time in hours, half hours, and minutes.
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Area And Perimeter Task Cards
Use these area and perimeter task cards in your math centers to give your students practice solving real-world word problems.
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Selecting Units of Capacity – Measurement Game
Estimate the units needed to measure capacity with an Interactive Measurement Game!
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5th Grade Math Review – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Review important 5th-grade math standards with a student-led interactive activity that covers 12 different mathematical concepts.
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Telling Time - 1st Grade Math Coloring Sheet
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Color By Code worksheet!
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Telling Time - Worksheets
Practice telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time worksheets.
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Build Your Own Theme Park – Project
A STEM project embedded in a real-world context.
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Converting Time Units - Task Cards
Practice converting time with a handy set of free Time Unit Conversion Task Cards.
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Converting Units of Length – Task Cards
Use ratio reasoning to convert the length of metric and customary units with this set of 24 task cards.
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Measuring My Body – Length Worksheet
Explore linear measurement with an engaging collaborative activity where students measure different body parts and compare them
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Design a Garden Math Project
Get students to design a garden with this student-centered perimeter project for 3rd and 4th grade students.
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Classroom Clock Labels - Flower Time Petals
Use our Flower Wall Clock Labels to create a spring-themed display to help children read the time.
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Telling Time to the Hour and Half-Hour - Worksheet
Practice telling time to the half-hour with a fun set of printable Telling Time Worksheets for 1st grade.
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Measurement Conversion Worksheets - Units of Time
Use a set of printable measurement conversion worksheets to practice converting units of time.
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Roll and Cover – Telling Time to the Minute
Practice telling to the minute with this roll and cover game
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12-Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive clock that displays hours, minutes, and wording.
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Telling Time Printable Games for 2nd Grade
Help your students learn to tell time to the 5 minutes with this set of six printable Telling the Time games for 2nd grade.
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Days of the Week Poster
Display the days of the week with a bright and cheery Days of the Week poster for your classroom.
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Measurement Conversions - Length – Worksheet
Use ratio reasoning to practice converting length measurements with this worksheet.
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Converting Units of Length – Worksheet
Demonstrate an understanding of decimal representations while converting metric units of length with this worksheet.
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I Have, Who Has? - Time to the Minute
Practice telling time to the nearest minute with this set of “I Have, Who Has” game cards.
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Measuring Length with Clover Worksheet
Measure familiar objects using our lucky clover in this St Patrick’s Day math activity!
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Area and Perimeter Word Problems
Get students to solve area and perimeter word problems with this set of three worksheets for 3rd and 4th grade.
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Telling Time Practice Sheets
Practice reading analog clocks with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Three Little Pigs Area Worksheet
A worksheet to practice finding area using square units.
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Telling Time to 5 Minutes - Activity Sheets
Cut and paste to tell time to the nearest five minutes with a pack of printable cut-and-paste telling time activity sheets.
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Kindergarten Measurement Worksheets - Comparing Length, Mass, & Capacity
Practice comparing units of mass, capacity, and length with a printable pack of kindergarten measurement worksheets.
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The Number of Days in Each Month - Color By Code Worksheet
Help your little learners remember the number of days in each month with a color-by-code worksheet.
- Measurement Worksheets
- Measurement Games
- Measurement Posters
- Measurement Templates
- Measurement Projects
- Measurement for Pre-K
- Measurement for Kindergarten
- Measurement for 1st Grade
- Measurement for 2nd Grade
- Measurement for 3rd Grade
- Measurement for 4th Grade
- Measurement for 5th Grade
- Measurement for 6th Grade