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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Converting Time Units - Task Cards
Practice converting time with a handy set of free Time Unit Conversion Task Cards.
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Busy Binder - Kindergarten Morning Work Activity Book
Review daily calendar, math, literacy, and fine motor skills with a printable kindergarten Busy Binder workbook!
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Appropriate Units of Measurement – Worksheet
A worksheet that allows students to choose appropriate units of measurement.
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12-Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive clock that displays hours, minutes, and wording.
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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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Metric Units of Measurement – Poster Pack
Use this set of metric conversion posters when learning about units of length, weight, and capacity.
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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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Days of the Week Spelling Worksheets
Use these Days of the Week Spelling worksheets to help your students practice reading, writing, and spelling the Days of the week.
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Informal Times of Day - Kindergarten Time Worksheet
Help students learn about time with a set of printable Informal Times of Day worksheets.
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Number Talks - Perimeter and Area Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 28 task cards.
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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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Problem Solving Worksheet - Measurement
A problem solving worksheet involving measurement.
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Telling Time Story Problem Comprehension Pack
Practice reading comprehension and telling time skills with a printable pack of Telling Time Math Story Worksheets.
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5th Grade Math Review – Test Prep Packet
Encourage your students to work through 8 pages of 5th-grade math problems while charting their progress to measure their success.
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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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Volume Vocabulary Poster
A poster that explains the concept of volume and lists associated vocabulary.
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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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Telling Time to the Nearest Minute Test
Assess your student's abilities to tell time to the nearest minute with a Telling Time to the Minute Unit Test for 3rd Grade!
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Converting Units of Time Match-Up Game
Convert time units, including seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months by completing a match-up activity.
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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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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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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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Creating Line Plots With Measurements – Differentiated Worksheets
Guide students to measure items to the nearest inch or ¼ inch, create a line plot and answer questions with this set of differentiated worksheets for 2nd and 3rd-grade students.
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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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Customary Units of Measurement – Poster Pack
Use this set of customary conversion posters when learning about units of length, weight, and capacity.
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Selecting Units of Capacity – Sorting Activity
A sorting activity to help students identify containers that should be measured in fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, and gallons.
- 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