Reading a ruler worksheets and activities can be so much fun for students.  This week students have been learning to measure to the nearest 1/4 inch, which can be challenging for students. That’s one of the reasons it’s beneficial to teach reading a ruler after your fraction unit. It’s a great tie-in to teaching fractions on a number line.I start my measurement unit with reading a ruler to the nearest one-fourth inch. My students typically come to me with a solid foundation of how to read a ruler to the nearest inch, so I’m able to hit the ground running.

In this post:

• Measurement Basics
• Measurement Treasure Hunt
• Broken Ruler
• Line Plots
• Culminating Activity

Reading a Ruler Basics

I introduced measurement with this reading a ruler worksheet where students label a large ruler with 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 increments of each inch. I like tying this lesson into reading and labeling fractions on a number line.

Then, I gave my students some basic independent reading a ruler worksheet. This allowed me to see who needed a little extra work with measurement. One of the most common mistakes was confusing which whole number to write, so I’ve addressed that with those who need it. I made two of these worksheets, so I could use the additional copy to reassess as needed.

Reading a Ruler Worksheets and Activities

Once the majority of the class was ready to dive-in to some authentic linear measurement lessons, we completed two fun and engaging reading a ruler worksheets and activities. In one activity, students measured the lengths of different objects around the classroom. They found the length of a book, scissors, glue bottle, and glue stick. They also measured the length and width of a piece of notebook paper. I tried to choose common objects that would be easily accessible, as well as objects that would not be too difficult to measure. Some students tried to round all of their measurements to the nearest inch, rather than the nearest one-fourth inch, so we had to work on that a little.

We also completed a measurement scavenger hunt by finding items with a given linear measurement. I’ve done something like this in the past, but this had a little twist, because of the measurements with 1/2, 1/4, and 3/4 inches. This was by far my students’ favorite activity.

To help students develop a better understanding of inches and centimeters, they completed a reading a ruler worksheet where they measured the same objects in both inches and centimeters to compare the measurement units.

Students also completed a units of measurement sort. While this may seem common sense to us, it’s often quite challenging to students!

Measurement Treasure Hunt

Who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt!?! In this measurement activity, students use a treasure map and measurement directions to find the location of a buried treasure. It is really so much fun! One of these days, I’m going to find a way to convert the measurements from centimeters to feet or yards and take this activity outdoors.

Another fun way to get students outdoors is with this paper airplane activity. Have students design paper airplanes and let them fly the airplanes outdoors. After each flight, students should use a different measurement tool to determine how far their airplane flew.

Reading a Broken Ruler Worksheet

Never underestimate the power of a broken ruler. This requires students to apply all that they know about reading a ruler to find the correct measurement. Students often think that it’s an impossible task, so you may need to provide explicit modeling before completing this reading a ruler worksheet.

Line Plots

Today, students created a line plot by measuring ten pencils to the nearest 1/4 inch (I can’t believe I forgot to take a picture). They recorded the length of each pencils in the table on the top of their page. Then, students used that information to create a line plot to show the lengths of the pencils. At the bottom of the page, students asked two questions that could be answered by using the line plot. Ex: How many pencils were longer than five inches?

After students have guided practice working with line plots, I like to let them create their own line plot. The only requirement is that they must be able to measure the topic of the line plot to the nearest one-fourth inch.

Reading a Ruler – Culminating Activity

Another one of my favorite measurement activities is Measurement art project. It’s the perfect culmination of the reading a ruler worksheets and activities above.

Prep

To prepare, I precut a large variety of rectangles in different sizes and colors. I’ve learned to make all rectangles of a particular color the same size-this makes grading so much easier! I like to use about 8 or 9 different colors and try to have a good variety of sizes of rectangles. Since it is important for my students to be able to measure to the nearest 1/4 inch, I cut several rectangles with 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 in their lengths, but to modify this activity all of the rectangles could be a whole number in length.

Directions

In this task students create a person, animal, or any object using the precut rectangles. Students create their design and then find the measurement of each rectangle they used for their Measurement Man. Another modification to the task is to have students measure the length in two different units of measure to see the comparison. My students had so much fun with this lesson, and I wanted to share some of their creations.

Measurement Cheerleader

What a pretty face!

My students had so much fun with this task! Learning is so much more authentic when students are active and participating in meaningful tasks.

Measurement Task Cards

I also have students use my Measurement Task Cards for a little extra practice in our measurement centers. These task cards tie-in perfectly with the reading a ruler m

You can find more ideas for teaching elementary math in this blog post that’s packed with useful content.

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I finally finished my new measurement unit where students measure to the nearest one-fourth inch, and it may very well be my new favorite unit.  I’ve always loved teaching measurement, but I didn’t feel like I had a good written plan for teaching it.  I always taught piece by piece, but I wanted to have everything together in one document. Now that it’s summer and I actually had time to sit and develop the unit, I’m more excited that ever about teaching linear measurement.  I’ve upgraded all of my tried and true lessons that I’ve been using for years, and I added several new activities as well.

There are six hands-on lessons where students use a ruler to measure to the nearest one-fourth inch. One of the lessons include Parrot Measurement, where students make parrots (out of paper) and measure how far the parrots can fly. Students will also go on a scavenger hunt and make large cut-outs of their body to measure.

Two of my FAVORITE lessons are the Treasure Map and Build a Pirate Ship. Every year, my students absolutely LOVE these two measurement activities!

There are also several skill building lessons where students practice reading a ruler, converting measurements, completing sorts, and more!

I also added a few lessons where students create and and read a line plot. I integrate graphing all year, but I do emphasize line plots in this unit.

No math unit would be complete without a few games, so I added a couple measurement games. My favorite is Measurement War, where students convert measurements. This skill isn’t explicitly stated in the Common Core Standards, but I’ve found that it helps students understand the subject a little better, and it gives them mental math practice!

If you’re interested, you can check the unit out in my TpT Store!

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