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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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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Telling Time to the Nearest 5 Minutes - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice telling time to the nearest 5 minutes.
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Analog Clock Features
Students create their own analog clock by cutting and pasting the parts of an analog clock on a template.
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Area Worksheets (Metric Units)
Use this set of three measurement math worksheets to help your students understand the concept of measuring area in metric units.
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Time After Time Teaching Slides
Introduce your students to the history of the clock, time zones, and telling time with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Days in Each Month Poster
A poster showing the number of days in each month.
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Perimeter Anchor Chart
Use this perimeter anchor chart to teach students how to find the perimeter of shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, hexagons and parallelograms.
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Telling Time Worksheets - Quarter Hours
Tell and write time to the nearest quarter hour and half hour with printable telling time cut and paste worksheets.
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Liquid Volume Math Investigation - Bath Time at the Farm!
A mathematics investigation involving liquid volume, embedded in a real-world context.
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Clock Template
Let your students learn how to tell time in a hands-on way with this clock template.
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Measurement Classroom Decoration Pack
A pack of page borders and cut-out decorations for your classroom.
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Time Banner
A 3-page banner to use on your 'Time' display board.
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Clock Reading & Elapsed Time Quiz
Assess your students' knowledge of telling time to the minute and working with elapsed time with this Clock Reading, Conversions, and Elapsed Time test.
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Financial Mathematics Math Investigation - Let's Play Mini Golf!
A mathematics investigation about financial mathematics and measurement, embedded in a real-world context.
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Months of the Year Poster - Northern Hemisphere
A poster displaying the months of the year.
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Mass Math Investigation - How Much Do We Throw Away?
A mathematics investigation about measuring mass, embedded in a real-world context.
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4th and 5th Grade Concepts of Time Assessment
Assess your students' knowledge of elapsed time, reading schedules, and reading timelines with a Concepts of Time Test.
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Measuring Mass with Informal Units Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring mass and how to measure it with informal units.
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Measuring Area Using Arrays
A worksheet to use when exploring the concept of measuring area using arrays.
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Measuring the Area of a Robot with Informal Units - Worksheet
A worksheet to use when measuring area with informal square units.
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Liquid Volume Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring the concept of liquid volume.
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Area Investigation - Big, Loud Feet!
A mathematics investigation involving area using informal units, embedded in a real-world context.
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Interactive Teaching Clock
Use this interactive clock widget to teach time with fun hands-on learning!
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Measuring and Comparing Length
A 60 minute lesson in which students will measure and compare lengths of objects using informal units.
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Learning Time! Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of time for young learners. It focuses on the days of the week, connecting familiar events to particular days, and sequencing events in time order.
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Measuring Capacity with Informal Units
This mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing, and ordering capacity using informal units.
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Measuring Volume with Informal Units Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering volume using informal units.
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Measuring Area with Informal Units - Unit Plan
This mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing, and ordering area using informal units.
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Measuring Mass with Informal Units Unit Plan
This mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing, and ordering mass using informal units.
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Measuring Length with Informal Units - Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering length using informal units.
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Understanding Time - Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses telling time to the minute, the relationship between units of time, converting between units of time, and using 'am' and 'pm' notation to solve simple time problems.
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Telling the Time Unit Plan - Grade 1 and Grade 2
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of telling the time to the hour, half hour and quarter hour.
- 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