Tutoring

LINEAR MEASUREMENT

Please note: This activity will work best if you stretch it out over 7- 8 sessions. Remember to keep each lesson short (5 minutes) and happy. Stop the activity before your child starts to get tired.

Practice (For this activity, you will need a fork.). Give your child the fork and ask her to look at it closely. Then, show her an object that you would like her to measure (e.g., a table, a desk, the length of a room, etc.). MAKE SURE THAT SHE GUESSES HOW MANY FORKS IT WOULD TAKE TO MEASURE THE OBJECT! Some children may need help at first measuring – be ready to help them if they need it. After each guess, let her measure the object. As she measures more and more objects with the fork, her guesses will become better and better. This activity will help your child to develop a number of important skills: measuring and GUESSING/ESTIMATING. Repeat this activity for a few nights (five minutes at the most each night!)

Note: You can keep your child involved by challenging her to see how closely they can guess. Can she get the answer right on?

After she has become an expert at measuring with a fork, ask her to start measuring with a paperclip. Pick a number of objects to measure. Make sure she guesses before she measures each object!

After she has become an expert at measuring with a paperclip, ask her to start measuring with a something very long (e.g., a long stick). Together, pick a number of objects to measure. Make sure she guesses before she measures each object!

Ask your child to measure how long the apartment hallway is. Ask her to measure it with the fork, the long object, and the paperclip. What was easier to use: the paperclip, the fork, or the long object?

Practice Show your child a number of objects. Make sure that they are different sizes. Ask her which tool she should measure it with. Which tool would be best for measuring a really small object? Which tool would be best for measuring something that is really long? What tool would be best for measuring medium sized objects? Together make up a list: paperclips are good for measuring hands, small books, a roll of toilet paper, etc. Forks are good for measuring tables, desks, the height of people, etc. Longs sticks are good for measurig rooms, hallways, etc.

After your child has become an expert guesser and measurer with a number of different-sized tools (i.e, a paperclip, a short pencil, a book and a long ruler), get them to measure the something using each of the different tools. Afterwards, ask them, “Why is this object 18 sticks long and 52 forks long? Why are these numbers different?” See if they can tell you an answer IN SENTENCES.

Practice For this activity, you will need a ruler that measures in centimeters. You can buy these at a Dollar Store. Using the ruler, show your child how long one centimeter is. Ask your child to find a part of their body that is one centimeter long (e.g., the width of one of their fingers). Use the ruler to show how the width of their finger is about one centimeter long. Then, show your child an object. Ask them to guess how many centimeters long they think it is. (Remember, guessing is really important!) At first, let them use the width of their fingers to help them guess. After they have guessed, help them use the ruler to measure the object. How close was their guess? After a few times, your child will probably give better guesses. After they have become expert guessers, challenge your child to guess how long an object is without using their finger.

Remember: You can keep your child involved by challenging her to see how closely they can guess. Can she get the answer right on?

Practice Ask your child to leave the room. When they are gone, you, the “teacher,” pick an object in the room and measure it. (e.g., you measure a book and you discover that is it about four centimeters long.) Ask your child to come back into the room. Say, “I spy with my little eye something that is four centimeters long. What is it?” She looks around the room and guesses an object. Then she goes and measures it. She has three tries to find the right object. If she does, she gets a point. If she cannot identify the object after three guesses, then you get a point. If your child is able to, encourage her to become the “teacher” and pick a secret object that you have to identify.

Find five objects of different lengths. Ask your child to put them in order from shortest to longest.

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