This post is inspired by chapter 8 of Steve Leinwand’s book Accessible Mathematics. If you haven’t read this book, do it! Leinwand is a leading voice in the push for math instruction that makes sense to students and will lead to longer lasting mathematical understanding. Chapter 8 is entitled, “How Big, How Far, How Much?” and in it Leinwand encourages this instructional shift:
Tie the math to such questions as How big? How much? How far? to increase the natural use of measurement throughout the curriculum.
He goes on to say that measurement as a mathematical skill is often a “skipped chapter,” but is also one of the most pervasive life skills in the mathematics curriculum. Leinwand goes on to encourage teachers to incorporate measurement as “an ongoing part of daily instruction and the entry point for a larger chunk of the curriculum” (p. 46).
The game shelf!
Now you may be saying, “But I have a million other goals and standards and expectations and test prepping and whatnot that I have to do before I teach the kids to use a ruler!”
Well, lucky for you the Standards for Mathematical Practice also have you covered.
andrewgael.com 