A child in a math center is holding a connecting cube up against a picture of a pumpkin. The picture has a line along its length and a line along its height, and the child's job is to lay cubes along the length line, one after another, and count them. She lays the first cube at the line, the second cube next to it with no gap, the third, the fourth — and then she stops, because the line has ended, and the answer is four. She writes a 4 on her recording sheet, and then she stacks a tower along the height line, counting as she goes. It is the first time she has measured anything, and she did it with her hands.
The Nonstandard Measurement Task Cards & Worksheets is built for that moment, sixty-four times over. It has 64 seasonal task cards students measure with real cubes: 16 for each season — fall, winter, spring and summer — with a length line and a height line on every picture. The measurement worksheets come in 2 levels: Level 1 records height and length, and Level 2 adds a guess first, so students learn to estimate. The pages are black and white on US Letter paper, the listing states 67 pages, and answer keys are included. The grade range is kindergarten through 1st grade, stated the same way in the description and the listing's Highlights field.
What Nonstandard Measurement Is
Nonstandard measurement means measuring with something that is not a ruler: cubes, paper clips, hands, feet. A child who measures a picture with cubes is learning the idea of measurement — that length is a number of units, laid end to end, with no gaps and no overlaps — before they ever meet the numbers on a ruler. The ruler comes later, and it makes sense faster to a child who has already measured with cubes, because the child already knows what the numbers mean.
The cubes matter because they are the same size every time. A child who measures with their hands will get a different answer every time, because hands are different sizes, and a child who measures with cubes will get the same answer every time, because cubes are not. That sameness is what makes the answer key possible, and the answer key is what makes the center work: a child can measure, record, and check, and the checking is the teaching.
Every picture in this set is drawn to a whole number of 2 cm cubes, so the answer keys are exact and also list the numbers for 1 cm cubes. A class with 2 cm cubes uses one column of the key, and a class with 1 cm cubes uses the other, and both are right. The print-size check square makes sure the pages print at the right size, because a picture printed too big or too small would measure wrong, and the check square catches it before the children do.
The 64 Task Cards, Season by Season
There are 64 task cards, 16 for each season, and the seasons are what make the set last all year. Fall cards in the fall, winter cards in the winter, spring cards in the spring, summer cards in the summer — the same skill, new pictures, all year long. A child who measured a pumpkin in October and a snowman in January has measured the same way twice, and the second time is faster, because the skill is the same and only the picture has changed.
Each card has a picture with two lines: a length line and a height line. The child lays connecting cubes along the length line and stacks a tower along the height line, then records the number. Two lines, two numbers, one card. The two numbers are the point: a picture has a length and a height, and they are different numbers, and a child who records both is learning that measurement is not one number but a number for each thing measured.
The cards are two per page, and the recording sheets are one for each season in each level — 16 recording sheets in all. A center with the fall cards and the fall recording sheets runs itself: the child takes a card, measures it, records it, and puts it back. The storage box labels keep the seasons separate, and the suggested plan tells the teacher which cards to put out when. A center that runs itself is a center the teacher does not have to run, and that is the point of the labels and the plan. The winter cards are the ones that get the most use, because winter is when the children are inside and the centers are running every day: a snowman, a mitten, a sled, each one measured the same way, and the measuring is the routine that holds the winter mornings together.
How to Measure: The Rules
The How to Measure poster teaches three rules, and they are worth teaching before the first card is measured. Start at the line. No gaps. No overlaps. Three rules, and every one of them is a mistake a child will make without being told. A child who starts the cubes before the line will count one too many. A child who leaves a gap will count one too few. A child who overlaps the cubes will count one too few as well, and will not know why.
Teach the rules with the poster on the table and a card in your hand. Lay the first cube at the line, and say "start at the line." Lay the second cube next to it, touching, and say "no gaps." Lay the third cube, and say "no overlaps." Then let the child do it, and watch the first cube: if the first cube is at the line, the rest will follow. The first cube is the one that matters, and the poster is the reminder that stays on the table after the lesson. Do the teaching with the whole class once, at the carpet, with one big card where everyone can see it, and then let the children practice in pairs before the center opens. A child who has practiced the rules with a partner will follow them alone, and a child who has not will guess, and the guessing will show up in the numbers.
The 8 measurement word cards — length, height, longer, taller, cubes, measure, estimate, record — give the children the words for what they are doing. A child who can say "the pumpkin is 4 cubes long and 3 cubes tall" is a child who is measuring in sentences, and the sentences are the evidence that the child understands the numbers. Put the word cards on the table with the cards, and the children will use them.
The Two Levels: Measure, Then Guess and Measure
The worksheets in the Nonstandard Measurement Task Cards & Worksheets come in 2 levels, and the difference between them is one step: the guess. In Level 1, the child measures and records. In Level 2, the child guesses first, then measures, and the guess is the learning. A child who guesses 5 and measures 4 has learned something about the size of the picture, and a child who guesses 5 and measures 5 has learned something about their own eye. The guess is not a test. It is a way of seeing.
Start every child in Level 1, and move them to Level 2 when the measuring is solid. A child who is still leaving gaps or starting before the line does not need to guess yet — they need to measure, and the guessing would only add a second thing to get wrong. When the measuring is clean, the guessing is the next step, and the child who guesses is a child who is estimating, which is the skill that comes after measuring and before the ruler.
The two levels also mean a mixed class can measure the same cards at the same time. The child on Level 1 and the child on Level 2 are measuring the same pumpkin, and they can compare answers. The comparison is the conversation: did you get 4? I got 4 too. The two levels mean the conversation includes everyone, and the cards are the same cards.
Recording Sheets and Answer Keys
The 16 recording sheets are the record of the measuring. One sheet for each season in each level, with a place for the height and the length of each card. A child who records their numbers has a record of their work, and a teacher who collects the sheets has a record of the class. The sheets are simple on purpose: the card number, the height, the length, and nothing else. A recording sheet that asks for too much is a recording sheet that slows the measuring down.
The answer keys are exact, and they are exact because every picture is drawn to a whole number of 2 cm cubes. The keys list the numbers for 2 cm cubes and for 1 cm cubes, so a class with either size of cube can check. Teach the children to check their own work: measure, record, then check against the key. A child who checks their own work after finishing is learning to check, and a child who copies the key is learning to copy, and the rule is what prevents it: measure first, then check.
The print-size check square is the part to use before the first center runs. Print a page, measure the square, and if the square is the right size, the cards will measure right. If the square is the wrong size, the printer settings are wrong, and the cards will measure wrong too. One minute with the check square saves a center full of wrong answers, and the wrong answers would not be the children's fault. The suggested plan is the part to read before the year starts: it lays out which season's cards to put out when, so the fall cards are out in the fall and the winter cards are out in the winter, and the set does not end up as 64 cards in a box that nobody sorts through. A plan followed is a set used, and a set used is a skill taught.
Beyond the Cards: Compare, Hunt, Celebrate
The compare pages — Which Is Longer? and Which Is Taller? — take the measuring one step further. A child who has measured two pictures can say which is longer and which is taller, and the saying is the reasoning. Longer and taller are different words for different directions, and a child who can use both is a child who understands that length and height are different things. The compare pages are the ones to use after the children have measured, not before, because the comparison needs the numbers.
The Measure the Room hunt takes the measuring off the page. The children measure things in the room — the bookshelf, the door, the table — with cubes, and the room becomes the worksheet. A hunt is a good day for a math center, because the children are moving, and the moving is part of the learning. The hunt works best in pairs, because one child holds the cubes and the other records, and the pair has to agree on the number. The cards also work in guided math, where the teacher sits with a small group and watches the measuring happen: the first cube, the gaps, the count. A teacher who watches four children measure the same card will see four different mistakes, and the four mistakes are four lessons. Guided math is where the rules get taught, and the center is where they get practiced, and the set is built for both.
The Measuring Star certificate closes the set, and it is worth giving out for the measuring, not for the right answers. A child who measured all 64 cards has done 64 measurements, and the certificate says so. The certificate is a record of the work, and the work is what the child controls. Paper cube strips are included for classes without cubes, so no class has to skip the set for want of a manipulative.
What to Watch For
Three things go wrong with nonstandard measurement, and all three are easy to prevent. The first is the gap. A child lays the cubes with a space between them, and the count comes out short. The fix is the poster: no gaps, and the teacher's finger on the line between the cubes, showing the space. The gap is the most common mistake, and it is the easiest to see once you know to look for it.
The second is the starting point. A child starts the cubes before the line, or after it, and the count comes out wrong by one. The fix is the first cube: watch where it goes, and if it is not at the line, move it. The first cube is the one that matters, and a child who places the first cube right will place the rest right.
The third is the tower that falls. A child stacks the cubes along the height line, and the tower tips over, and the count is lost. The fix is the laying down: lay the cubes along the height line on the table, the same way as the length line, and count them lying down. A tower is satisfying to build, and a row on the table is easier to count. Both work, and the child who counts the row is the child who gets the number right.
Frequently Asked Questions
What grades are the measurement task cards for?
They are written for kindergarten and 1st grade. The description and the listing's Highlights field both say K–1st. They work for math centers, small groups, guided math and seasonal centers all year.
How many task cards are there?
64 task cards in total, 16 for each season: fall, winter, spring and summer. Students measure each picture with connecting cubes and record the height and length.
What size cubes do the cards use?
Every picture is drawn to a whole number of 2 cm cubes, so the answer keys are exact for 2 cm cubes and also list the numbers for 1 cm cubes. Paper cube strips are included for classes without cubes.
How are the two levels different?
Level 1 records height and length. Level 2 adds a guess first, so students learn to estimate before they measure. Start every child in Level 1, and move them to Level 2 when the measuring is solid.
Is there an answer key?
Yes. Answer keys are included for 2 cm cubes and 1 cm cubes, plus a print-size check square. Teach the children to measure first, then check.
How do I set up the center?
Use the storage box labels to keep the seasons separate and the suggested plan to know which cards to put out when. One season's cards and recording sheets at a time, with the How to Measure poster on the table.
