Does your house measure up?

This lesson is intended to be used as a final assessment of a student's understanding of an inch, foot, and yard. It will also assess their ability to use a yardstick, follow written directions, and work with a partner to draw a house on the school blacktop as part of a class neighborhood.

A lesson plan for grade 3 Mathematics

By Cathy Searcey

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Related topics

• Learn more about hands-on, length, mathematics, and measurement.

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Learning outcomes

The students will demonstrate their ability to first draw a simple square 6×6 house on one inch grid paper with a 1×3 door and two 1×1 windows. Then, taking their plan go to the blacktop, draw the same house from their pattern with their partner using a yardstick.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1.45 hours

Materials/resources

• An overhead transparency of one inch grid paper
• One yardstick per two students
• Three colors of sidewalk chalk for each student pair
• A one-inch grid sheet for each child
• A straight edge or ruler for each student
• One sheet of story paper for each student

Technology resources

overhead

Pre-activities

• The students will need to understand the concept that 12 inches equal 1 foot and that 3 feet equal one yard.
• They will also have to have an understanding of what a square and rectangle look like and be able to reproduce them.
• They will have to understand how to use a ruler with or without a leading edge.
• Prior to this lesson, the students should have had several opportunities to draw geometric figures of given dimensions using both grid paper and a twelve-inch ruler.

Activities

Orally review with the class the concept of the length of an inch, a foot, and a yard. Have students select objects within the class that are close in size to each. Talk about the many ways measurement is used daily, particularly in the building industry. Tell them that today they are all going to become architects and are going to design a house as part of a class neighborhood.

1. Give each student a sheet of one inch grid and have them draw a 6×6 square. This is the house’s frame. Model on the overhead, and walk around and monitor their drawings.
2. Next, have them draw a door in their house that is 3 squares tall and 1 square wide. Again, model on the overhead.
3. Finally, have them draw two 1×1 windows on their house. Model on overhead. They may draw a roof of their choice.
4. Now instruct the class that we are going to go to the blacktop to draw our neighborhood. Divide the children into pairs being sure to assign a student who is comfortable with the use of a ruler to each pair. Give each team three colors of sidewalk chalk and a yardstick.
5. Using their plans, they are to draw a house that has a 6ft. x 6ft. frame, a 3ft. x 1ft. door, and two 1ft. x 1 ft. windows. They may draw any type of roof they like and decorate it in any way.
6. Allow students to select their spots and proceed at their own pace. (It took my fastest students about 30 minutes and my slower paced students about 45 minutes.)
7. As the students are drawing their houses, walk among them looking for their understanding of ruler use, shapes, and their ability to work with a partner. As they finish, have them raise their hands for your assessment of their house.
8. As the students finish their houses, have them walk through their new neighborhood observing each other’s homes.
9. Upon returning to the classroom, give each student a piece of story paper and have them write a make-believe story about their new neighbors and neighborhood.

Assessment

• Use a check sheet that includes understanding of ruler use, figure reproduction, and ability to work in a team.
• When the students complete their houses have them raise their hands to get your attention. Then let them explain and show you what they did using the yardstick as a tool. If the figure was approximate in portion to the assigned dimensions, they were given a satisfactory grade.
• After students have completed their stories, allow them to share them with the class.

Supplemental information

Excellent activity sheet for a pre-activity is found in Schooldays, Feb./Mar. 1995, “Measuring a Playhouse”

Mathematics Plus Teaching Resources Grade 2, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich pg.37
1 inch grid master

Comments

My students had a wonderful time with this activity. Most did an outstanding job drawing and measuring their houses. They had great fun while I was assessing each group, tracing themselves and adding swimming pools and garages to their houses. Their writing reflected their pleasure at drawing their own houses. Management was made easy because of the outside location and the fact that they could not leave their yard until I had visited their house.