Measurement Length and Perimeter - Add lengths - Planning

In a Year 4 mathematics lesson, students are introduced to the concept of adding lengths with a focus on practical application and mental addition strategies. The lesson's objective is to teach children how to efficiently add measurements that may be given in different units, such as metres and centimetres. To facilitate this, children are encouraged to convert all lengths to the same unit before adding. This simplifies the process and enhances their understanding of the relationship between different units of measurement. The lesson is supported by resources such as worksheets, a presentation, and cubes, which serve as visual aids to represent lengths in a tangible form.

The class begins with a practical partner activity where children use cubes to model word problems involving the addition of lengths, such as comparing and combining the heights of towers built by two characters, Malachi and Zach. This hands-on approach helps to visualise the concept of length and the process of adding. As the lesson advances, children are challenged to solve problems and create similar questions for their peers, reinforcing their learning through teaching. The lesson also includes reasoning tasks where children use differently coloured cubes to represent various lengths and explore multiple solutions to reach a given total height. Throughout the lesson, key questions prompt students to reflect on their strategies and the advantages of using a consistent unit of measure. The lesson plan acknowledges common misconceptions, such as inaccuracy in mental calculations and confusion during unit conversion, and provides varied worksheets to cater to different levels of understanding and depth of knowledge.