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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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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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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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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Selecting Units of Capacity – Measurement Game
Estimate the units needed to measure capacity with an Interactive Measurement Game!
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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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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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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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Order Up! Elapsed Time Puzzles
Practice determining elapsed time with a printable pack of nine ‘Order Up! Elapsed Time Cut and Paste Puzzle Strips.
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Telling Time Printable Games for 2nd Grade
Help your students learn to tell time to the 5 minutes with this set of six printable Telling the Time games for 2nd grade.
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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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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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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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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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Telling Time - 1st Grade Math Coloring Sheet
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Color By Code worksheet!
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12-Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive clock that displays hours, minutes, and wording.
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Problem Solving Worksheet - Measurement
A problem solving worksheet involving measurement.
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Time to 5 Minutes - Digital Learning Activity
Review how to tell time to the nearest five minutes with an independent Telling Time Digital Learning Activity.
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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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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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Measuring Area Using Informal Units Worksheets
Use this set of area worksheets to help your students practice measuring the area of regular and irregular shapes using informal (square) units.
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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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Measurement Conversions - Length – Worksheet
Use ratio reasoning to practice converting length measurements with this worksheet.
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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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Design a Garden Math Project
Get students to design a garden with this student-centered perimeter project for 3rd and 4th grade students.
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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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Finding the Perimeter of a Rectangle Poster
Teach students the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle with this colorful classroom poster for your math bulletin board.
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Telling Time Test - Nearest 5 Minutes
Assess your student's abilities to tell time to the nearest five minutes with a printable telling time assessment.
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Telling Time Task Cards - Hour & Half-Hour
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a set of printable Telling Time Task Cards.
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Measurement Conversion Worksheets - Units of Time
Use a set of printable measurement conversion worksheets to practice converting units of time.
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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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Converting Units of Length – Worksheet
Demonstrate an understanding of decimal representations while converting metric units of length with this worksheet.
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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.
- 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