Measuring length with Tag Bags
In the above video we see four year old Natasha, a pre-schooler and her teacher Mrs. Lee, exploring the concept of measurement in length through an activity they like to call, "Tag Bags Measuring Activity". The activity takes place in Mrs. Lee's preschool classroom, surrounded by math and literacy diagrams in the background. On the upper left hand corner Mrs. Lee has placed a diagram of the Mat Man which is adopted from the book series Mat Man Goes to School. The Mat Man teaches children about body awareness as children are able to recreate the Mat Man using a variety of wooden blocks found around the classroom. Mrs. Lee choice to include this diagram near the math area is a wise choice as the Mat Man helps children simultaneously learn math vocabulary like "short", "long", "big", and "curve" with its labels. Click here to learn more about the Mat Man.
Before beginning the activity Mrs. Lee tries to gauge how much knowledge Natasha has with the concept of measurement in length. She asks, "has anybody ever measured you", to which Natasha replies "I go to the hospital and they measured me... they found out that I'm big". See image: http://i.imgur.com/qJCcPEq.jpg. Here, we can see Natasha's developmental progression lies in understanding "length quantity recognizer" where she sees length as an absolute descriptor (e.g. all adults are tall) but not as a comparative (e.g. one person is taller than another) when she says "I'm big".
Right away Mrs. Lee can also tell that Natasha has some concept of measurement in length and she knows how tools such as a measuring tape are used as Natasha describes her experience of measurement by tapping her head and drawing a line from left to right to indicate how tall she is. See image: http://i.imgur.com/uebstKF.jpg. Using this knowledge Mrs. Lee transitions into the activity of measuring the blue table with the tag bags in her basket. Mrs. Lee says "did you know we can use our tag bags to measure something", to which Natasha replies by nodding her head. Mrs. Lee both verbally explains the instructions by saying "were going to lay them across the table and we'll find out how long the table is" and non-verbally provides her with an example of what is expected by sliding her hand from left to right. See image: http://i.imgur.com/4K6O570.jpg.
Mrs. Lee starts off the activity my demonstrating using a red tag bag, and then encouraging Natasha to join in by saying "were going to make a row across the table". Already, Mrs. Lee has provided Natasha with some basic mathematics vocabulary such as "row" and "how long". When Natasha places a red tag bag next to the first one, Mrs. Lee notices a space between the two bags. She encourages Natasha to make sure "there is no space in between" and thus Natasha pushes the two tag bags close together so that the measurement will be accurate in the end. Natasha continues to add tag bags to the row until she has reached the end of the table. See Image: http://i.imgur.com/5E6iRnx.jpg
Mrs. Lee asks Natasha "you know how we find out how many are on the table" to which Natasha starts counting the tag bags "1, 2, 3, 4". See image: http://i.imgur.com/e1yC5Ph.jpg. But Mrs. Lee notices this is not the correct number of tag bags so she counts with Natasha again, this time pointing with her finger to each tag bag. Both Mrs. Lee and Natasha now see that the table is " five tag bags long" because "we measured it, didn't we". See Image: http://i.imgur.com/aCy5N0p.jpg
Through this activity, Mrs. Lee has helped Natasha learn the concept of measurement in length using manipulative such as tag bags. Since Natasha is at a preschool level, this activity is very age appropriate in helping her learn math concepts using concrete materials. With this foundation in measurement, Mrs. Lee has prepared Natasha for learning more complex measurement terminology and units such as learning how to measure using a ruler or explore units such as centimeters and inches later on. Mrs. Lee has also encouraged Natasha to use mathematical reasoning to explain her findings. For example when Mrs. Lee says "we now know the table is five tag bags long", she confirms her findings by saying "because we measured it". This mathematical reasoning shows Natasha that she must be able to explain her answer in the future when asked "how do you know".
Before beginning the activity Mrs. Lee tries to gauge how much knowledge Natasha has with the concept of measurement in length. She asks, "has anybody ever measured you", to which Natasha replies "I go to the hospital and they measured me... they found out that I'm big". See image: http://i.imgur.com/qJCcPEq.jpg. Here, we can see Natasha's developmental progression lies in understanding "length quantity recognizer" where she sees length as an absolute descriptor (e.g. all adults are tall) but not as a comparative (e.g. one person is taller than another) when she says "I'm big".
Right away Mrs. Lee can also tell that Natasha has some concept of measurement in length and she knows how tools such as a measuring tape are used as Natasha describes her experience of measurement by tapping her head and drawing a line from left to right to indicate how tall she is. See image: http://i.imgur.com/uebstKF.jpg. Using this knowledge Mrs. Lee transitions into the activity of measuring the blue table with the tag bags in her basket. Mrs. Lee says "did you know we can use our tag bags to measure something", to which Natasha replies by nodding her head. Mrs. Lee both verbally explains the instructions by saying "were going to lay them across the table and we'll find out how long the table is" and non-verbally provides her with an example of what is expected by sliding her hand from left to right. See image: http://i.imgur.com/4K6O570.jpg.
Mrs. Lee starts off the activity my demonstrating using a red tag bag, and then encouraging Natasha to join in by saying "were going to make a row across the table". Already, Mrs. Lee has provided Natasha with some basic mathematics vocabulary such as "row" and "how long". When Natasha places a red tag bag next to the first one, Mrs. Lee notices a space between the two bags. She encourages Natasha to make sure "there is no space in between" and thus Natasha pushes the two tag bags close together so that the measurement will be accurate in the end. Natasha continues to add tag bags to the row until she has reached the end of the table. See Image: http://i.imgur.com/5E6iRnx.jpg
Mrs. Lee asks Natasha "you know how we find out how many are on the table" to which Natasha starts counting the tag bags "1, 2, 3, 4". See image: http://i.imgur.com/e1yC5Ph.jpg. But Mrs. Lee notices this is not the correct number of tag bags so she counts with Natasha again, this time pointing with her finger to each tag bag. Both Mrs. Lee and Natasha now see that the table is " five tag bags long" because "we measured it, didn't we". See Image: http://i.imgur.com/aCy5N0p.jpg
Through this activity, Mrs. Lee has helped Natasha learn the concept of measurement in length using manipulative such as tag bags. Since Natasha is at a preschool level, this activity is very age appropriate in helping her learn math concepts using concrete materials. With this foundation in measurement, Mrs. Lee has prepared Natasha for learning more complex measurement terminology and units such as learning how to measure using a ruler or explore units such as centimeters and inches later on. Mrs. Lee has also encouraged Natasha to use mathematical reasoning to explain her findings. For example when Mrs. Lee says "we now know the table is five tag bags long", she confirms her findings by saying "because we measured it". This mathematical reasoning shows Natasha that she must be able to explain her answer in the future when asked "how do you know".