Location: Classroom/Interior as free as possible.

No. of participants: All the students in a class

Organisation: 2 groups sit on the floor in a row behind each other.

Material: 2 balloons.  

Description

Organise two rows side by side, with the students sitting one behind the other. The teacher gives a balloon to the first person in each row who, on the teacher's signal, must pass it on to the next person, without anyone dropping it. When the balloon reaches the last member, he comes to the front of the queue and continues along the line.  Whenever someone loses the balloon, the balloon goes back to the beginning, i.e. to the first person.

With each student sitting in their place in the classroom, give them clear instructions:

Let's pretend you're a very hairy, lazy cat. And you want to stretch. Extend your arms forwards. Raise them above your head. Pull them back. Feel the pull in your shoulders. Extend them even further. Now let them fall normally.

O.K., kitty, stretch again. Stretch your arms forwards. Raise them above your head. Pull them back. Pull hard. Now let them fall normally. That's good! Notice how your shoulders are more relaxed. This time we're going to stretch for real. Try to touch the ceiling. Spread your arms out in front of you. Raise them above your head. Pull back. Notice the tension and pull in your arms and shoulders. Hold on tight. Great! Drop them quickly and feel how good it feels to be relaxed. It's nice, warm and cosy.

 In the end of the lesson should:

• learn the importance and necessity of taking measurements.
• understand and measure different fulfilments using non-conventional and conventional units.

Resources:

• Clothes clips, glue sticks (one set per two students)
• Two tape measures (for the practical activities: one to attach to the wall, the other to measure the table)
• Rulers (one for every two students).
• Record sheet
• Scratching material
• Computer with speakers
• Internet access

Preparation:

On an empty wall in the classroom, fix a tape measure vertically from the floor with tape or sticky gum.

Start the lesson by talking about the importance and necessity of measuring objects in the house, so that, for example, you can buy a bed that fits in the bedroom, etc.

Explain that there are various ways of measuring. Present a set of unconventional objects and encourage the students in pairs to take measurements with them and record them on the recording sheet.

Suggest that they share their results.

Introduce conventional measuring instruments, ruler and tape measure and show the students how to use them.

The students should share their results and come to the conclusion that they are the same size when using a ruler or tape measure.

• To raise awareness of what is being learnt, encourage learning based on concrete situations that are close to the students;
• Active/experiential learning that allows students to develop increasingly important instrumental skills for understanding, explaining and acting on the environment in a conscious and creative way;
• Learning that takes into account the diverse starting points and learning rhythms of students, their interests and needs and the characteristics of the environment;
• Learning that values themes and/or generating questions arising from observation of the reality that is close to the students and that enables them to problematize and investigate;
• Co-operative and collaborative learning - Work carried out in cooperation and collaboration in groups and pairs;
• New technologies as a way of learning/consolidating content.

Mother tongue- Select relevant information according to the listening objectives and record them using different techniques. Speak clearly and articulate words appropriately.

All the steps in exploring the topic are understandable for students with specific needs but cognitive abilities. The lesson does not include lengthy written explanations. The role of the support or special education teacher is to help the students in the target group if they are unable to carry out any of the tasks or steps, or if they feel disorientated in understanding something that may be asked of them.

Identifying and manipulating and handling materials, taking part in games, exploring content by visualising images, etc. are usually well accepted and meet the interests and needs of most students.

Non-standard measures

Conventional or standard measures

1^st step - Large group

Start the lesson by talking to the students about the need to take measurements (the height of the students, a piece of furniture in their house, a plot of land, etc.).

2^nd step - In pairs

Organise the students into pairs.  Give each pair a sheet for recording, (appendix 1) a clothespin, a paperclip and a tube of glue (these objects must all be exactly the same).

Then instruct each pair to take measurements using non-conventional units, i.e. using the clothespin, paperclip and tube of glue, and record them on the sheet. The students should measure the pen, the elasticated cap, the training notebook and their desk.

- How many clothes pegs, the pen, notebook and cover measure?

- How many paperclips does the pen, notebook and cover measure?

- And how many glue sticks does the pen, notebook and cover measure?

The students (in pairs) are also asked to measure their desks with an open hand and to say how many palms the desks measure (which are all the same size).

3^rd step - Large group

The students will share their data in order to check the results (the same or different). On the board, the teacher will record the results in columns.

The supposedly different results will allow the teacher to explain the need for a standard measure.

4^th step - Large group

Next, the teacher explains what standard measures are, what they are used for and how they are used – he/she chooses to show a tape measure and a ruler.  Following this explanation, the teacher shows some illustrative images which he projects onto the video projector (appendix 2).

Showing a ruler and tape measure, he/she exemplifies by measuring some objects with the ruler and one of the work tables with the tape measure.

On an empty wall of the room, where the tape measure is already fixed vertically with glue or adhesive tape, she selects a pupil, using a random name selector, name wheel or online roulette available on Google, to be measured. This activity of measuring all the children is left to be continued in another class, or on another day.

5^th step - In pairs.

Again, in pairs, give each pair a ruler and ask them to remeasure the pen, the elasticated cap, the training notebook. Record the results on the record sheet used earlier (Appendix 1).

6^th step - Large group

The students will share the data they have obtained and come to conclusions when they see that when using a standard measure, the results obtained are the same, which is not the case when using objects with their hands... to measure something.

Bring the class together and highlight the discoveries made during the lesson.

• Ask the students about the differences between the units of measurement used.
• Emphasise the importance of precision when measuring.

Interactive activity:
Wordwall:https://sen-power.eu/atividades/pdf/747_Appendix 1.pdf (Appendix 3)

Appendix 1: https://sen-power.eu/atividades/pdf/747_Appendix 1.pdf

Appendix 2: https://sen-power.eu/atividades/pdf/747_Appendix 2.pdf

Appendix 3: https://wordwall.net/pt/resource/75771165