I love a classroom with plenty of variety; don't you? I enjoy adding review games, fun projects, silly songs, group activities, anything to our day to make it a little more fun and keep us all on our toes. Of course, school can't all be fun and games. I do have to have a couple of papers to submit for our work samples and I do need to be able to grade a few things to submit for our progress reports. I know, I know, but anytime I can add some variety to our school day is a fun day for all of us. I have really enjoyed using our measurement centers from Lakeshore Learning with the kids this year. These centers include lots of fun hands-on activities for measuring length, weight, and volume. The activites are for preschool through 2nd grade, but I added some extra information to each lesson to make it applicable for Joy and Josh (3rd & 4th grade) too.
When we studied (a.k.a. played with) the length measurement center, Josh and Joy would make estimations about each activity using standard and metric measurement. The would also make predictions and then compare the final results with their prediction to see how they did. It was a great way to make an activity geared toward the little ones apply for all of us.
Today, we measured volume (played in the water during class). Josh and Joy predicted outcomes based on measurements and estimations. Since we are measuring the volume of different measuring cups it was also a good chance to review fractions. We talked about how containers of different shapes can vary in their volume. Things that look very different can sometimes have similar capacity. It is also a great chance to review these important math vocabulary terms with the older kids. I love having multiple grades all together and enjoying our hands on learning!
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