Description
What our Using a Ruler lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Using a Ruler guides students in comparing lengths and using a ruler to measure to the nearest one inch. Students develop their communication and presentation skills as they explain how to use a ruler. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to compare lengths and use a ruler to measure to the nearest one inch and explain how to use a ruler. This lesson is for students in 1st grade and 2nd grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the blue box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.
Options for Lesson
Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. If you have more advanced students, you may choose to introduce half inches or yards during the lesson. For an additional activity, you could distribute items from the classroom and have your students measure their widths, lengths, or heights. For an outdoor activity, you could have your class measure things in nature such as blades of grass, a small tree, or height of flowers.
Teacher Notes
The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.
USING A RULER LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Using a Ruler
The Using a Ruler lesson plan includes two content pages. Rulers are measuring tools that we use to discover the length of an item. When someone asks “How long is that pencil?,” we can use a ruler to measure it. Almost everything has a length that can be measured. We can measure everything from a piece of paper to a book to your fingers and feet to the room itself. A ruler is a helpful tool that helps us learn the sizes of things.
The lesson shows two images of pencils, one longer than the other. When looking at the images, it’s easy to tell that the first pencil is smaller than the second pencil.
If we want to compare the sizes of people, we can always say that one person is shorter or taller than the other. The lesson includes a picture of a girl and a boy. The girl in the picture is clearly taller than the boy. However, we often need to know exactly how big, how long, or how wide something is, using its length, width, or height.
An object’s height is how tall it is, an object’s length is how long it is, and an object’s width is how wide it is. We use rulers and other measuring tools to learn the length, width, or height of an object. The numbers on a ruler indicate inches. Most rulers are 12 inches long, which equals one foot. Remember that a foot is a unit of measurement and not the size of your actual foot!
Inches and feet are units that we use for measuring length. In the United States, we use inches and feet to measure things. If someone tells you they have a phone that is 5 inches long and 3 inches wide, you know the exact size of their phone. If you wanted to buy them a case for their phone, you know the right size to buy.
The lesson shows a picture of a 6-inch ruler next to the two pencils from earlier. Now that we have a ruler, we can measure the pencils. Using the ruler, we can figure out that the longer pencil is 3 inches long and the shorter pencil is 2 inches long. It’s important to always place the zero end of the ruler at the end of the object we want to measure.
Why is knowing how to measure things important? When you want to buy a pair of shoes, you need to know the size of your feet so you can buy shoes that are not too big or too small. Beds need sheets and blankets that are the right size. Houses are measured before they are built so everything fits together correctly.
When using a ruler, remember that 12 inches equals one foot. If something measures 12 inches it is equal to one foot. If it measure another 12 inches, you add another foot.
It’s easy to practice measuring things with a ruler, tape measure, or another tool that measures length. With practice, you can become an expert at determining the sizes of things.
USING A RULER LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Using a Ruler lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.
USING A RULER ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For the activity worksheet, students will use rulers to measure each of the lines and shapes printed on the page in inches. They will also draw three of their own lines for another student to measure and measure another student’s lines.
MATCHING PRACTICE WORKSHEET
The practice worksheet asks students to match words related to the lesson with their definitions. They will also use the words from a word bank to fill in the blanks in a paragraph about taking measurements.
HOME MEASUREMENTS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
For the homework assignment, students will follow the instructions on the worksheet to measure objects in different rooms in their house. They will measure three items from the kitchen, three from the bedroom, and three from the living room. They will also measure the size of each room.
Worksheet Answer Keys
This lesson plan includes answer keys for the activity worksheet and the practice worksheet. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
