Teaching Inches Feet Yards | Free Measurement Lesson Plan for 2nd Grade

Are you teaching inches, feet, yards in 2nd grade? These are key measurement skills for kids to learn as they apply them to future math concepts and the real-world. In this blog post, I’m sharing simple, hands-on tips for introducing measurement to 2nd graders using a FREE sample measurement lesson plan from my 2nd Grade Measurement Guided Math Unit!

Introducing Measurement to 2nd Graders

When introducing measurement to 2nd graders, you’ll want to start with the units of inches, feet, and yards. It is so important to make sure you have hands-on visuals for students to see in order to visualize the sizes, their differences, and brainstorm what units they might use to measure different objects.  

How Big is an Inch?

I like to start by showing students a ruler and a yardstick for reference. By 2nd grade, students should be somewhat familiar with the concept of an inch. 

I like to help students visualize an inch by having them hold up their pointer finger, and when they bend it, the distance between their two knuckles is approximately 1 inch. Then, I’ll have them use a ruler to compare the length, but it’s usually pretty spot on. 

How Many Inches Foot?

Next, we discuss how many inches are in a foot. I explain to students that 12 inches equals 1 foot and model this on a ruler. This leads to math discussions about different objects we would use rulers to measure.

We talk about smaller objects that we can measure with a ruler in inches, such as erasers, a sheet of paper, etc. Then, we talk about some of the larger items we would measure in feet, such as a window in our classroom, a baseball bat, or our desks. 

How Many Feet in a Yard?

After introducing the concept of feet, we discuss the fact that 3 feet (or 3 rulers) is the same length as one yard. Yards are used to measure larger objects or lengths, such as a football field, the height of a door frame, or the distance of our hallway.

Free Measurement Lesson Plan for Teaching Inches Feet Yards 

Now that you have a good idea about introducing measurement to 2nd graders, let’s dive into exactly how I begin teaching inches, feet, and yards using a step-by-step measurement lesson plan (that you can grab for FREE towards the bottom of this blog post!).

This lesson plan follows the guided math framework for teaching and includes a math warm up, whole group mini-lesson, independent practice, small group activity, and reflection/higher order thinking question. Plus, you’ll get all the materials you need to teach this lesson with success!

Warm Up Activity

For the warm up activity for this measurement lesson plan, write 19-3 = 10+14 on the board. Ask students if they agree or disagree with the equation written and have them explain their thinking. While this warm-up isn’t necessarily measurement related, it gets students’ brains thinking and ties in addition and subtraction skills, which are key!

Whole Group Pocket Chart Sort

For the whole group mini lesson, students will use a pocket chart sorting activity to determine what kinds of objects they would measure with each customary unit: inches, feet, and yards. 

Place the inches, feet, and yards headers in a blank pocket chart. Hold up a picture card and discuss which type of measurement unit you should use to measure that object.

For example, if you hold up the card with the picture of a key on it, ask students if they would measure this object with a ruler or a yardstick. If they answer ruler, ask them if they would need more than one ruler to measure the key. Since a key can be measured with one ruler, they’ll see that they need to measure in inches. Place the key under the “inches” column and continue with 2-3 more cards. 

After doing a few together, hold up a picture card and call on a student to come sort it under the correct column on the pocket chart. Have them explain which unit of measurement they would use to measure the object and why, discussing this as a class. 

Independent Practice Color By Code Measurement Activity 

After completing the pocket chart sort and all of the picture cards have been sorted by inches, feet, and yards, it’s time for students to practice what they just learned independently. 

Give each student a copy of the color by measurement activity. They will look at each object shown in the boxes on their worksheet and decide which unit of measurement they should use to measure it. 

If the object would be measured with inches, they’ll use the code to color it green. If the object would be measured with feet, they’ll color it yellow. Finally, if the object would be measured with yards, they’ll color it blue.

Small Group Measuring Sentence Strips Activity

The next part of the measurement lesson plan is small groups. This is my favorite part of guided math, as it’s truly where the magic happens! Small groups are where you can dive into concepts with students at their level, differentiate, and give them the support they need. 

For this small group lesson, you’ll do a measuring sentence strips activity. Before the lesson, cut sentence strips into various lengths and label them A-J for 10 strips total. Each student will get a Measuring Sentence Strips sheet where they’ll estimate the length of each sentence strip and measure it in inches using a ruler before recording their findings. At the end, they’ll answer the questions about which sentence strip was longest and which was shortest. 

Reflection/Higher Order Thinking Question 

To wrap up the measurement lesson plan, I like to have students answer a higher order thinking question as their exit ticket activity. This is a great way for them to reflect on their learning from the day and apply what they’ve learned. Give students a strip of paper with the higher order thinking question and have them record their answer on the back. 

Today’s question is: Victor had a gummy worm that was 10 inches long. He wants to cut it into 5 inch pieces. How many pieces can he make? Students can use a ruler to help solve this problem.

Would you like to try this free measurement lesson plan for teaching inches, feet, and yards in 2nd grade? You can get it delivered straight to your inbox by filling out the form below!

Looking for a free measurement lesson plan for 1st grade? Check out this blog post and free lesson plan on nonstandard measurement.

If you’d like to incorporate more guided math lessons for teaching measurement into your classroom, you can shop my measurement units below or in my TPT store.