For the month of April, our calendar has focused on different ways of measuring objects. Each of the calendar markers features a measuring tool and an object being measured: an eraser next to a ruler, grapes on a scale, rice in a measuring cup, a penguin on ice beside a thermometer that shows the temperature is 24 F. The tools and objects illustrate different measurable attributes and provide opportunities for students to make comparisons using words such as longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, etc.

We have also explored some of these attributes during math. Students have enjoyed measuring the length of various objects around the room using cubes. They have also had an opportunity to use pan balances to compare pairs of objects, and to weigh objects by balancing them with sets of counting bears. For example, scissors weigh the same as 6 counting bears. We also compared the capacity of various containers by filling them with cubes and counting the number of cubes each container held. All of this has provided students with a strong introduction to the idea that objects can be measured in different ways and we use different tools depending on the attribute we are measuring.