{how far to heaven?}

foot. pound. mile. cup. teaspoon. centimeter.

in math my students and i were exploring measurement. why do we have to measure things? how do we measure things? what is human error?

to incorporate the holiday season, we set off across the classroom measuring in gingerbread men. yes, that's right, gingerbread men. students colored and decorated gingerbread men cut outs and began on a list of measuring chairs, desks, book shelves, doors, and walls. i asked each student to measure one additional item of their choice. as students shared their findings, some shared the height of a friend or the length of the white board...

as i asked for any final sharers, one little fella in the front row shot up his hand in excitement.

me: "and what did you measure?"

little fella: "how many gingerbread men do you think it would take to get to heaven? that's what i'm going to measure."

me (all smiles): "oh, and how are you going to measure that?"

little fella (very, very serious): "i guess when i float up to heaven i'll just take it with me and measure while i'm on my way up! gee, that's going to take a lot of gingerbread men."


so adorable. really, where do i get these kids.