Measuring Penny Measurement Unit

Measuring Penny Measurement Unit- Dramatic play for the older grades?! You bet! I know what you are thinking…the kids are too “old” for that! I thought the same thing…until I tried this math unit with my third graders. Read on to see how I taught the different areas of measurement, using Measuring Penny, as a mentor text.

Have you ever read this adorable book, Measuring Penny, by Loreen Leedy?

This is one of my all time favorite math books because it does a beautiful job giving examples of all the different areas of measurement, which is such a difficult concept for students to grasp. In this book, the little girl Lisa has an important homework assignment–to measure something in several different ways. She has to use standard units like inches and nonstandard units like paper clips to find out height, width, length, weight, volume, temperature, and time.

Lisa decides to measure her dog, Penny, and finds out …
Penny’s nose = 1 inch long
Penny’s tail = 1 dog biscuit long
Penny’s paw print = 3 centimeters wide
… and that’s only the beginning!

Lisa learns a lot about her dog and about measuring, and even has fun doing it. ( Book image and recap from Amazon)

Using Lisa and her pet as inspiration, I hosted a PAW-RIFFIC PAW-TY for my students!!! A fun note was sent home so the parents understood that the stuffed animals would be used for learning about the different areas of measurement:

The day of the PAW-TY was a blast! The students (turned Pet Vets for the day!!!) rotated through different stations on the different units of measurement. The Pet Vets began by taking their pet for a vet check.

Below is a snapshot of the waiting room. The animals were well behaved and stayed in their crates (milk crates!) while waiting for the Pet Vets.

Shhh!!! No barking or meowing allowed!!!

Just like in any waiting room, there was a plethora of reading material for those patients- all animal themed, of course! There was also some lollipops that were given as a nice little reward for the good puppies and kitties.

The pet vet exam room was all set up to see patients- bandages, thermometers, stethoscope’s, and scales.

The Pet Vet’s gave their pet a clean bill of health to participate in the fun festivities and each owner rotated to the following math stations:

One of the many stations was the water stop!

Pet owners and their pets learned about VOLUME by feeding their puppy or kitty a cup/pint/quart of water- whatever they were thirsty for!

Students experimented with the different tools to measure volume.

Pets R’ Us was a favorite hang on for the pets!

The pet owners took some time to browse through the items for sale and created  list of needs and wants on their shopping list.

Students added up all the items to determine the total amount of money they would be spending on their spoiled pet.

Next, pet owners took their furry friends to the weight station!

Directions for this station:

Pet owners were not shy to step on the scale, too. Pet owners compared their weights to the weight of their pet.

Some students **may** have exaggerated a tad bit when it came to the weight of their furry friends. Daisy, the cute, furry, little stuffed kitten was 70 pounds???

Hmmm….

Students then experimented with standard and non standard units to measure their pet.

Directions were posted for all pet owners to read.

The students measured the length and width of each paw/fin/gill or whatever body part their pet had!!!

My oh, my there were so many different measurements to take!!! The pet sitting up, the length of the nose and tail…and so much more!!!!

We then made a bar graph to compare and contrast the differences.

Pet owners ended their busy day by taking a pet portrait to remember their fun day of learning.

Do you notice the similarities of this little girls pet and my pet??? It’s Penelope!

Hers just happens to be a lot bigger! In fact, she did the exact measurement- 7 pounds heavier!!!

We actually did not get to do all the stations in one day, so we had a few activities that we finished throughout the rest of the week. There was no way that I was going to skip the Puppy Chow!

Pet owners were very kind to measure out their portion and then take some home in a doggy bag for their pet.

Would you believe that all those animals in the classroom left behind their PAW PRINTS!?!?!

Yep, paw prints all over the classroom!!

We used those paw prints to learn about line plots.

Now it’s YOUR turn to have a Paw-rrific Paw-ty in your classroom!

Check out the details about how to purchase this resource below.

Calling All Animal Lovers: It’s a Paw-rrific Paw-ty is 150 pages and is a creative, authentic way to teach the different areas of measurement…with a flair of dramatic play!

Sneak peek of the file:

Pet owners will use their stuffed animal to experience the following measurement stations:

Measuring My Pet: Using a ruler to investigate the length of the animal’s paws, tail, tummy, etc. Pet owners will also investigate non-standard units of measure with this station. File includes resources about measuring to the nearest half and quarter inch.

Puppy Chow: Pet owners will have a paw-riffic time measuring out the ingredients for this yummy recipe and investigate capacity.

Water Spot: Pet owners prepare water for their pet (capacity)

Pets R’ Us: Pet owners identify the needs and wants of their pet, shop for their pet’s needs, and calculate the total amount.

Weight: Students use standard units of measure for their pet’s weight.

A day in the life of…: Pet owners measure their pet’s daily activities.

Go for a walk? Pet owners measure the distance of their pet’s walk.

Paw prints: Pet owners learn about line plots with plotting the paw prints of their pets.

And for the grand finale—Vet Check!
The vet check portion of this file is 25 pages and gives your pet owners the opportunity to transform into pet vets for a few days!

Pet vets use the different areas of measurements for their pet’s wellness exam. This portion of the file includes several colorful posters to set up an exam room and waiting room, for your animal hospital.

Also included:
*COLORFUL and attractive anchor charts and posters to use throughout the unit and for each station
*Detailed directions and suggestions to prepare for the paw-ty and detailed directions for the students for each paw-ty station
*Common core alignment for grades 2,3,4 (other grades can also enjoy this file, however it is aligned with grades 2-4)
*Measuring my pet and pet vet flip book for students

In addition to the Paw-rrific Paw-ty stations and the Vet Check Clinic, this file also includes:

* An interactive measurement graphic organizer (this is also sold separately in my TpT store), in which students learn about the different areas of measurement, and the different tools and units used for standard and non-standard measurement

* Measurement match up, in which students match up the object they are measuring to the correct tool for measuring

Click HERE to purchase this file on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Save 10% by purchasing directly from my website.

 Woof!!! Meow!!!