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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Math Dream House Project
Introduce this math dream house project to your students to help them increase spatial skills while designing the home of their dreams!
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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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Length Measurement & Conversion - Differentiated Worksheets
Use differentiated metric measurement worksheets to practice identifying units, measuring, and converting metric units of length.
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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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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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Area (Measuring Regular and Irregular Shapes) Interactive Activity
Assign this colorful area interactive activity in your next math class to help students practice measuring the area of regular and irregular shapes!
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Finding Volume (Differentiated Worksheets)
Teach finding the volume of rectangular prisms and cubes with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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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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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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Mini-Mystery – Who Won the Race?
A fun, logic-based activity where students read clues to solve a mystery.
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Volume Escape Room
“Escape” ordinary volume activities with this engaging volume escape room that will have students solving volume challenges on a quest for a lost civilization.
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Area And Perimeter Word Problem 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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Converting Units of Length Worksheet Set
Download our converting units of length worksheet set to allow your students to demonstrate an understanding of decimal representations while converting units of metric length.
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Mixed Operations - Length Word Problems Worksheets
Solve multi-step length word problems with a printable pack of 3-act Math Word Problem Worksheets.
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Calendar Math SCOOT! Task Cards
Teach your students about calendars, days of the week, and months of the year with a Classroom Calendar Scoot Game!
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Measuring My Body – Comparing Heights Activity
Explore linear measurement with an engaging collaborative activity where students measure different body parts and compare them
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Introduction to Area Instructional Slide Deck
Introduce the concept of measuring the area of regular shapes with this 22-slide instructional slide deck.
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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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12-Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive clock that displays hours, minutes, and wording.
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Time Dominoes - Five Minute Intervals
Practice telling time to the nearest 5 minutes by matching 32 analog and digital clock dominoes.
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Volume and Capacity Activity — "Splash World" Math Investigation
Use this volume and capacity activity to expose your students to real-world volume applications by letting them design “Splash World” - their very own waterpark!
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Comparing Capacity Kindergarten and 1st Grade Activity
Share this comparing capacity kindergarten and 1st grade activity with your students to introduce them to early measurement concepts.
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Metric Conversion Worksheet Set
Utilize our metric conversion worksheet set to give your students practice converting units of metric length, mass, and capacity.
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Reading a Tape Measure Worksheets
Practice reading a tape measure to the nearest inch and half inch with a set of printable Reading a Tape Measure Worksheets.
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Heavier or Lighter Task Cards
Compare and contrast pairs of objects and encourage students to respond to questions featured on this set of task cards.
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Heavy vs. Light Roll and Color Activity
Explore items and decide which is heaviest and lightest in this fun and engaging roll and color activity.
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Heavy vs. Light Digital Activity
Explore the mass of items and compare and contrast the heaviest and lightest with this set of 25 digital task cards.
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Informal Mass Scavenger Hunt Worksheets
Practice using balance scales to determine the weight of objects using informal units with these fun scavenger hunt worksheets.
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All About Mass Worksheet Pack
Practice metric units used to measure the mass of objects with this set of worksheets.
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Paper Airplane Challenge - Measuring Distance Performance Task
Practice measuring distance and have fun hosting a paper plane competition using a printable math investigation workbook.
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Selecting Units of Length – Sorting Activity
Use a sorting activity to help students identify lengths and distances that should be measured in centimeters, inches, feet, and miles.
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Measurement Conversions - Length – Worksheet
Use ratio reasoning to practice converting length measurements with this worksheet.
- Measurement Worksheets
- Measurement Games
- Measurement Posters
- Measurement Projects
- Measurement Templates
- 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