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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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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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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Today Is… Calendar Worksheet
Start your day with a morning calendar review using our printable daily calendar math template.
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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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Blank Digital and Analog Clock Templates
Practice writing the time in digital and analog form with this set of blank clock faces.
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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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Two-Digit Division Task Cards
Strengthen two digit division skills with a set of engaging task cards that help students practice division using multiple strategies and representations.
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Volume of a Rectangular Prism Activity — Mini-Book
Use our volume of a rectangular prism activity book to teach your students concepts of volume.
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Measurement Conversion Activities - Metric System Task Cards
Share these measurement conversion activities task cards with your students to help them master metric conversions of length, mass, and capacity.
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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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Roll and Write - Telling Time Dice Game
Practice telling time and have fun learning how to tell time with a Roll and Write Telling Time Dice Game!
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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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Find the Missing Side Worksheet
Use this missing side perimeter worksheet to help your students find the missing sides on a collection of rectangles and squares.
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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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Interpreting Timetables - Error Analysis Worksheet Pack
Practice with elapsed time worksheets that challenge students to identify mistakes, justify their thinking, and strengthen their understanding of time and schedules.
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Intervals of Time Task Cards — 4th Grade Task Cards
Help students strengthen intervals of time skills with these engaging, differentiated task cards.
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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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Classroom Calendar Bulletin Board
Use this classroom calendar each and every morning to help keep your classroom an organized zone.
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Measuring Mass Task Cards
Explore estimation and measuring mass with this set of 24 word problem task cards.
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Worksheets to Practice Volume
Provide your students with these worksheets to practice volume, helping them master finding the volume of cubes, rectangular prisms, and triangular prisms.
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Differentiated Volume of Rectangular Prism Worksheet Set
Differentiate instruction with this volume of rectangular prism worksheet set that offers three levels of volume problems.
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Volume Word Problems – Task Cards
Present these volume word problems task cards to your students to give them practice solving volume problems with real-world context!
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Measurement Conversion Games — Customary System Task Card Set
Download our measurement conversion games task card set to give your students many ways to practice converting between customary units of length, weight, and capacity.
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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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Comparing and Ordering Length Task Cards (1-2)
Practice comparing and ordering the lengths of objects with a set of printable informal measurement task cards.
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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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Measurement Math Craft - Robot Template
Use a fun robot-themed math craft with your students when learning about measuring using a ruler.
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Measuring with Dinosaur Footprints - Hands-On Math Task
Engage your students in learning about informal measurement with a 'Dino-Mite' hands-on measurement activity in which they use dinosaur footprints to measure objects around the classroom.
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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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Tick Tock Time Conversion Task Cards
Review how to convert units of time with a pack of printable time conversion task cards.
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Days of the Week Calendar Math Display
Help your students learn about the days of the week with a printable Calendar Math Classroom Display.
- 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