What I Look Like By Friday Afternoon

Looking at my class on Friday afternoon and trying to figure out why they didn't do well on the measurement test.


 

Well, it is Friday afternoon. I quickly corrected the measurement test that had my students using a ruler to measure lines to the nearest quarter inch, drawing lines, and using a pre-printed ruler to determine length. The other half of the test was converting inches, feet and yards. It wasn't what my son would call an Epic Fail, but it was close.

Somehow, I thought by teaching measurement right after fractions, students would make the obvious connection of dividing an inch into four equal sections and being able to label and name them. Wrong! They just didn't seem to make the jump and connect the two concepts. When the line measured 2 and a half inches, they wrote down one half. When the line started at 1 inch and ended at 3 inches, they wrote that the line was 3 inches long. Uggghh.

I've decided that I need to add a separate unit to my fractions unit that is called "Beyond One, Improper Fractions". Hopefully, that will better prepare students for using a ruler, which I feel is truly a valuable skill to have as they will be using a ruler, tape measure,  the rest of their lives.

We will be revisiting measuring with a ruler in the near future!