Measurement word problems are perfect to teach your 2nd grade students after you have taught them to measure length.

 

 

With measurement word problems, students don’t need to bring out a ruler or yardstick to figure out the answer. They can use other strategies like using a part-part-whole diagram to reason through and solve.

 

It’s important to note that for 2nd grade, students will just be solving one-step measurement word problems where addition or subtraction is involved.

 

I teach my 2nd grade students 3 measurement word problem lessons that line up with the common core state standard. So what is the common core state standard for word problems involving measurement?

 

The standard for this is 2.MD.B5. And it states, “Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same unit by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.”

 

Now, before I share these 3 lessons, it’s important to think about what students need to have learned prior to teaching measurement word problems.

 

They need to have learned about the different units of length, they need to have worked regular word problems not involving length, and they need to know how to add and subtract within 100.

 

To make sure you have all these bases covered, check out these 3 blog posts:

 

Unlock How to Teach Measurement: 5 Proven Tips to Help 2nd Graders Master Measurement

 

3 Math Word Problem Solving Strategies to Help Students Be Successful

 

How to Best Teach Addition With Regrouping

 

Alright, let’s get into the 3 measurement word problems lessons you need to be teaching in 2nd grade.

 

Measurement Word Problems

 

The 3 lessons I teach with word problems involving measurement are adding and subtraction with measurements, finding unknown measurements, and using a number line to solve measurement word problems. Let’s break each of these lessons down and I’ll share exactly how I teach them.

 

Add and Subtract With Measurements

 

There are 2 main types of problems I teach in this lesson. The first one is where students find the distance around different rectangles.

 

To teach this, I like to display a rectangle and together we measure the different sides. Students discover that the top side of the rectangle has the same length as the bottom side. And they see that the left side has the same length as the right side.

 

So if we just know the length of 2 sides, we can find the distance around the rectangle by adding up all the sides.

 

Students love these problems because they get to add up a lot of double facts. We practice a few problems together and then I get students their own practice with a measurement word problems worksheet.

 

Then I like to get students extra practice with a puzzle activity featuring these kinds of problems. The top part of the puzzle has the rectangle labeled with the measurements, then the bottom parts have the equation and the answer. Students have to match the rectangles with their equations and answers. It’s a fun way to practice these kinds of problems.

 

The other problem type I teach during this lesson gives the length of 2 objects and then students have to figure out how much shorter or longer one object is compared to the other. 

 

Here’s an example of one of these measurement word problems, “How much longer is the pencil than the crayon.” The problem shows a picture of a pencil and a crayon lined up. They are labeled with their lengths. The pencil is 14 centimeters and the crayon is 6 centimeters.

 

To help students solve these kinds of problems, I like to help them see how that picture can be easily turned into a part-part-whole diagram. The pencil is the whole, the crayon is a part, and the empty space by the crayon is the other part. Put a question mark in that empty spot and you have filled in your part-part-whole.

 

Then students can see they have the number for the whole, and a part, but not the other part so they can subtract to get the answer. 14-6=8. So the pencil is 8 centimeters longer than the crayon.

I have students get their own practice with a measurement word problems worksheet for these kinds of problems. Then I partner them up and have them complete a scoot activity around the room.

 

 

I post up task cards around our classroom with different problems like these and with the rectangle problems I mentioned earlier. Then students go around and solve the different problems. They record their answers on a recording sheet. I set out an answer key so they can check their work when they are finished.

 

After that I have students do an exit ticket so that I can check their understanding.

 

Then students are ready for our next measurement word problems lesson that will happen the next day.

 

Word Problems With Unknown Measurements

 

This lesson focuses on word problems where they give one length of an object but not the other one. So how do you figure out that unknown length?

 

Well luckily, the word problem will give how much more or less that object is than the one with the known length.

 

So let’s look at an example with one of these word problems. Ella’s scarf is 42 inches long. Ava’s scarf is 5 inches shorter than Ella’s. How long is Ava’s scarf?

 

 

To help students solve these, I always have them draw a picture. Who’s scarf is longer? Ella’s. So we draw a long rectangle and label it 42 inches. That means Ava’s scarf is shorter. We draw a shorter rectangle lined up below it and label it with a question mark since this is the length we are trying to figure out. The problem says that Ava’s scarf is 5 inches shorter than Ella’s so we can label the empty space 5 inches.

 

Then if you look at the drawing, it actually makes a part-part-whole! We know the whole (Ella’s length), we know a part (the empty space), but we don’t know the other part (Ava’s scarf length.) So we subtract to find the answer. 42-5=37.

 

Do we ever add these kinds of measurement word problems? Yep! Let’s look at another example.

 

A tree is 17 feet tall. It grows 6 feet. How tall is the tree?

 

Remember, have students draw pictures of what’s in the word problem. Draw a tree and label it 17 feet. It grows 6 feet so leave some space up above but label it 6 feet. To the side draw the grown tree. We don’t know this length yet, so label it with a question mark.

 

Our drawing did make a part-part-whole, it is just sideways!

 

I have students turn their heads and they can see it. The grown tree is the whole. The shorter tree and the empty space are the parts. We know the lengths of both parts but not the whole, so we add. 17+6=23, so now the tree is 23 feet tall.

 

I like to practice these problems together as a class. I post these problems up on our whiteboard with what I call display pages. They are like slides that guide me in our direct instruction.

 

These pages also have more practice problems we do together as a class.

 

Then I get students their own practice with a measurement word problems worksheet.

 

When students have completed that, I partner them up and have them complete a scoot activity together.

 

The task cards I tape around the room have measurement word problems and a picture drawn out to help students reason through the problem. Then they check their work with the answer key I have set out.

 

After that, students complete a quick exit ticket and I look at these after school to see who could use a little extra practice during centers.

 

 

During centers I may set out my puzzle activity for these measurement word problems. These puzzles have the word problem up at the top and then three pieces underneath: the part-part-whole diagram, the equation, and the answer. Students match all these pieces together to solve the word problems Find these puzzle activities here.

 

This brings us to our third lesson with word problems involving measurement.

 

Solve Measurement Word Problems Using a Number Line

 

To be honest, when I first read the standard for measurement word problems, I thought it was weird that they wanted students to solve these on a number line. But then I realized that it is like them using a ruler to solve these. Because of that, students are not using an open number line. They have them use a number line with all the numbers there.

 

Here’s how I teach students how to use this. They first draw a line to their first number. Then they have to reason through the word problem and think if their next line needs to go forward or backwards to solve. They should land on their answer.

 

However, there is a lot of counting involved and the numbers on the number line can be small. So I always have students double check their answer by lining up the numbers and using the standard algorithm.

 

Let’s look at an example of one of these problems. Mack has a piece of board that is 40 inches long. He used 28 inches to make a picture frame. How long is his piece of board now?

 

To solve, we would draw a line from 0 to 40. Then we think, if he is cutting off 28 inches to make a picture frame, is his board getting longer or shorter. It is getting shorter so we will draw a line back 28 spaces from 40 and land on 12. So the answer is 12 inches.

 

I use display pages to teach students how to solve with a number line and to practice solving together.

 

Then I get them their own practice with a measurement word problems worksheet.

After that I like to get them some more practice with a scoot activity.

 

 

Like the scoot activities I’ve mentioned before, I have students work with a partner. They go around the room solving the different word problems on the task cards. Their recording sheet includes number lines. They are able to use these to find the answers. Then they check their answers on the recording sheet I have set out. Find this scoot activity here.

 

Then to get students more hands-on practice, I have them complete a puzzle activity with that same partner. The top of the puzzle pieces has the number line with the different arrows solving the problem. Underneath they need to line up the matching word problem and equation. It’s a fun way to practice these kinds of problems without doing the normal worksheet.

 

However, I do like to have students get some practice with all the measurement word problem types with worksheets because it’s easy to provide scaffolding with these worksheets. Let’s talk more about these and how they can help students.

 

Measurement Word Problems Worksheets

After I do direct instruction and we complete a few practice problems together as a class with the display pages, I like to have my students practice with measurement word problem worksheets. I give them one worksheet where we do a few problems together as a class. Then I have students do a few problems by themselves.

 

 

During this time I am walking around the classroom and giving support to students who need it. I’m also monitoring students’ work and helping them fix mistakes. I take note of common mistakes or misconceptions that I see.

 

Then I call students’ attention back and I address those common mistakes and misconceptions. I may model one of the problems on the worksheet.

 

Then I get students another measurement word problems worksheet. This time students complete it by themselves as I sit over at our classroom table. Students know if they need help to come sit at the table.

 

When students finish their work, they know to line up by the table. So I go back and forth from helping students sitting at the table, to checking students’ work who are in line.

 

I love this system because it allows me to provide immediate feedback. Then students can put this worksheet in their Take Home Folder and their parents can see how their child understood the day’s math lesson.

 

After this I have students do the scoot activities and puzzle activities and exit tickets I mentioned earlier. 

 

But here’s the thing… How I use these worksheets is not the only way I provide scaffolding for my students. Scaffolding and support are embedded in these worksheets. Let me give you a couple examples.

 

For the first lesson of adding and subtraction with measurements, the worksheets have the pictures drawn out for them. The next lesson the pictures are not drawn out for them. It’s taken away that support so they can master this skill on their own.

 

For the number line lesson, I first have students do a worksheet where no word problems are involved. They are just practicing solving simple equations with the number line provided on the worksheet. After that I give them worksheets with the word problems and the number lines.

 

Find all the measurement word problem worksheets and materials I’ve mentioned in this blog post here.

 

You can find my measurement materials here.

 

I hope you have found this blog post helpful on how to best teach measurement word problems to your 2nd grade students. It’s best to split it up into 3 lessons and give students the necessary support they need to succeed.