measurement (it rules!)

This week started with me preparing for my presentation on measurement! We had no in class session this week, so I had to adapt my presentation to fit a smaller group. It was interesting to see how being adaptable is still one of the skills I am learning. I naturally like to plan ahead, so when my plans change, I sometimes don't know how to accommodate those changes. I am still learning!

         In my presentation I had students draw out their hands on 1 and 2 square centimetre paper, and count how many centimetres their hand was on each paper. From this, I hoped they would gain an understanding of measuring in square centimetres, what square centimetres are, and how to compare two measurements.
         It went pretty well though. It is also very interesting video taping yourself and being able to look back on what you said and did. I think I would edit some things if I did present this lesson again, but I am happy with the activity,  it is always interesting to get students to understand how they can use the world around them mathematically.
         One of the things we learned online this week was investigation is one of the key aspects of measurement. Our professor discussed how students may not have the basic skills of measurement, and I think that is where my presentation would come in! It is a starting point for measurement.
The topic of measurement has many different features, because one can measure a variety of things. This features include measuring temperature, time, area, perimeter, circumference, and volume. One of the resources I looked through while planning my presentation was the Measurements grade 4-6: a Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics, Kindergarten to 6. This guide features really good examples for educators. It is laid out with similar sections as a lesson plan, making it super accessible and easy to read. One section that stood out to me is that it provides specific examples on how to scaffold the problems. There are several examples of "scaffolding suggestion" boxes featured in the document that seem really useful. On Page 49, the document suggests ways to connect a linear representation of time to life events that students will understand, in the scaffolding suggestion box. I think these little ideas and suggestions to educators makes it easier for pre-service teachers to understand, and have ideas to reference. I love documents like this because they take away the fear of trying to implement complex topics scaffolded in effective ways.
         I also sat in on Kursten's presentation, and assisted her in filming it! It was a great experience to see her activity. She also did hers on area, but focused on estimating area. Her activity is also a good introduction or refresher for students. In her presentation, the students cut out pictures and estimated their size based on the other pictures they cut out. This was an excellent example of estimating area! I definitely saw how hard gaining a conceptual understand of measurement can be for students.