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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Day or Night Sorting Activity
Help your little learners understand and apply the concepts of day and night with this fun sorting activity.
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Analog Clock Test - 2nd Grade Telling Time
Administer an Analog Clock Test to determine mastery of second grade clock reading skills.
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Time by the Minute - 3rd Grade Math Interactive
Practice telling time by the minute with an interactive Time-telling digital learning activity.
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Grade 5 Math - Time Conversion Chart
Help your 5th Grade math students learn to convert units of time with a printable Time Conversion Chart.
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How Long Does It Take? – Seconds, Minutes & Hours Worksheets
Estimate the duration of time it takes to complete an action with a pair of Seconds, Minutes, or Hours? Cut and Paste Worksheets.
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Clock Worksheet Cut and Paste– 5-Minute Intervals
Use a clock worksheet to cut, paste and build a clock with five minute increments.
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Tarsia Puzzle - Telling Time for 1st Grade
Solve the tarsia puzzle and practice matching digital times with their corresponding word forms.
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Telling the Time Poster
Help your students learn to tell the time to the hour, half-hour, quarter, and minute with a printable Telling the Time anchor chart PDF.
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Telling Time to the Minute Bingo
A set of 32 bingo cards using analog clocks to practice telling time to the minute.
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Telling Time Bingo - Hour and Half-hour
Use this set of 30 Bingo cards to practice telling time to the hour and half-hour.
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Telling Time Bingo - Time to the Quarter Hours
Practice telling time to the quarter hour with a printable Telling Time Bingo Game.
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Months of the Year - Ordering Worksheet
Practice ordering months of the year with a pack of printable months of the year worksheets for kindergarten.
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Elapsed Time on a Number Line Worksheets
Practice finding elapsed time using an open number line with a pair of differentiated elapsed time 3rd grade worksheets.
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Elapsed Time Anchor Chart - Printable
Show students how to calculate elapsed time on an open number line with a printable elapsed time anchor chart.
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Digital Clock Template
Print an interactive digital clock template to practice telling time during daily classroom calendar lessons.
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How Long Does It Take? – Sorting Activity
A set of 18 daily events for students to sort based on how long they take (second, minute, hour).
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Time to the Hour and Half Hour Match-Up
Match cards with three different representations of time to practice reading clocks and time in their written form.
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Months of the Year Playdough Mats
Use printable playdough mats to help your students learn to read and spell the months of the year.
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Days of the Week Playdough Mats
Use playdough mats to help your students identify, sequence and spell the days of the week.
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When Does It Happen? – Sorting Activity
Identify activities that happen in the morning, afternoon, and at night with a Time of Day Sorting activity for Kindergarten students.
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Perimeter of Composite Shapes Maze
Use this perimeter maze when teaching your students how to calculate the perimeter of composite shapes.
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Find the Missing Side Interactive Puzzle
Explore perimeter with missing sides with your students using this interactive digital puzzle.
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Perimeter Matching Game
Have students explore the perimeter of composite figures with this matching game perfect for collaborative learning.
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Perimeter Task Cards
Use these perimeter tasks to give your students practice with this fundamental measurement skill.
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Finding the Perimeter Interactive Activity
Get students finding the perimeter of shapes with this self-checking digital resource, perfect for lesson introductions and wrap-ups.
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Area Formula for 2D Shapes Anchor Chart
Display this math poster showing the area formula for different 2D shapes during your geometry lessons.
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Area and Perimeter Haunted House Project
Design your own haunted house and practice finding the perimeter and area of rectangular figures with an exciting Halloween Math Activity!
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Halloween Area and Perimeter Color by Number Worksheet
Use these Halloween color-by-number worksheets to practice identifying the perimeter and area of regular polygons.
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Analog and Digital Clocks Coding Robot Mat
Practice telling time on analog and digital clocks with coding robots!
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Area of a Parallelogram – Differentiated Math Mazes
Determine the area of different parallelograms with a set of differentiated math mazes.
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Area of a Triangle – Differentiated Math Mazes
Use the area of a triangle formula as you work your way through this set of differentiated math mazes.
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Area of a Parallelogram – Worksheet
Practice finding the area of a paralellogram with this math worksheet designed for 6th-grade students.
- 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