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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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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Elapsed Time Interactive Word Problems Game
Practice solving elapsed time word problems with an interactive quiz game for 3rd and 4th graders.
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Time to the Minute - Color by Code Worksheet
Review how to tell time to the minute with a fun Color By Code 3rd Grade math worksheet.
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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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Perimeter of Composite Shapes Interactive Activity
Get students to answer perimeter questions with this interactive digital resource, perfect for lesson introductions and wrap-ups.
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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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Finding Volume – Teaching Slides for 5th Grade
Teach your students how to find the volume of a rectangular prism by counting unit cubes and using a formula with this set of teaching slides designed for 5th-grade students.
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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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Same Perimeter, Different Area Word Problems – Worksheet
Practice solving multi-step word problems involving objects that have the same perimeter but different areas.
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Elapsed Time Worksheet
Determine how much time has passed with this collection of elapsed time word problems.
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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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Three Little Pigs Area Worksheet
A worksheet to practice finding area using square units.
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Field Day Dilemma – Whole Class Game
Test your students’ knowledge of measurement and graphing with this fun whole-class activity.
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Let's Get Measuring with Connecting Cubes
A set of templates to use when measuring with informal units.
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Volume Vocabulary Poster
A poster that explains the concept of volume and lists associated vocabulary.
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Blank Digital and Analog Clock - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice telling time.
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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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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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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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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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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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3rd Grade - Time to the Minute Quiz Game
Practice telling time to the minute with an engaging 3rd Grade Telling Time Quiz Game.
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What Time Is It? Telling Time Playdough Mats
Use playdough to practice telling time to the hour and half hour with printable playdough mats for kindergarten.
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Color By Code Worksheet- Telling Time to 5 Minutes
Practice telling time to the nearest five minutes with a fun Color By Code worksheet.
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Days of the Week - Months of the Year Word Search
Practice spelling the days of the week and months of the year with printable Day and Month Word Search worksheets.
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What Can You Do? 1st Grade Time Printables
Help your students understand time increments with a pair of cut-and-paste math worksheets for first grade.
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Figuring Elapsed Time - Interactive Game
Determine the elapsed time between events and have fun with an interactive Elapsed Time game.
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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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Hunt & Find - Telling Time Clock Game
Tell time to the nearest minute with a Tell the Time Clock Game for 3rd graders.
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Perimeter of Composite Shapes Worksheets
Use these perimeter of composite shapes worksheets in your math lessons when teaching your students how to calculate more advanced perimeters.
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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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Volume of Rectangular Prisms Mini-Book
Learn and practice how to find the volume of a rectangular prism with this mini-book.
- 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