The need for experiences like these is well illustrated by an episode which took place in a second grade classroom. Two boys wanted to cut a piece of string in half. The Taking the string to a yardstick, one boy carefully The first boy was not convinced. To prove his point he Hoping to help this child understand that there was an Finally, the teacher put the problem to him in a slightly "Suppose you had a piece of bread, and you wanted to give me half of it. What would you do?" "I'd fold it in two and rip it down the middle," the boy was quick to reply. "Wouldn't that work with the string?" The boy had to admit that it would, but he still in- 18 Try recording all your body measurements one after another on a single piece of string, the way some Chinese tailors do. Tie a knot in the string at the end of each measurement. Children will probably need to try this several times before they catch on to the fact that they must take the smallest measurement first. Working with random, fractional parts is a preliminary step to working with units such as inches, feet, and yards which are simply parts of a whole in one particular context. The more ways children learn to break down simple string-and-ribbon measurements into parts and into parts of parts, the better prepared they will be to understand the function of standard units of measure. As the need to interpret and communicate 19 Fingers, Hands, and Feet Using ribbon and string is only one way of matching and measuring length. Another method which is time-honored, handy, and appealing to children calls for the use of parts of the body. Long before a child enters school, he puts his body to work measuring in a number of ways. The act of reaching might well be the first of these. A baby reaches for a toy he sees, picks it up, gives it a toss, then reaches out to retrieve it. A few years later, it seems to the child that practically everything he wants or needs is out of reach: the shelf with the cookie jar, the hook for his pajamas, the light switch in his room. He tries standing on tiptoe, stretching his arms. He makes himself taller by climbing on a box or chair. By the time the child is of school age, he is expressing measurement by making comparisons in terms of himself. Asked how big something is, he may spring to his toes and fling an arm into the air to describe the height of his father of a skyscraper, or he may cup his hands together and make himself small to convey the littleness of his baby sister or his pet mouse. One way to start children thinking about parts of the body .as tall as Often a child may try the age-old method ་ How many different ways can you use your body to measure? One third grader attempted to measure the length of the Two girls in another class went out into the schoolyard 22 |