Length ~~ Fad
Development in Junior & Senior Infants
Objectives:
The pupils can……
 Use the language appropriate to length, height, width and thickness:
long/short/tall, wide, narrow, thick, thin, wider than/narrower than,
shorter than, the same length as…..
 Compare objects according to length, height, width or thickness
(optional)
 Use the following comparative terms correctly - longer, shorter,
wider, narrower……
 Order three objects according to length, height, width or thickness
(optional) S.I. children may be able to put five objects in order.
 Pick out objects which are about the same length, height, width….as
 Measure, using prepared lengths and non standard units without
remainders
 Measure, using non standard units with remainders
 Measure, using one non standard unit and tallying
 Compare two lengths using non standard units.
Refer to the various Junior & Senior Infant text books for activities on
length.
Resource material: ribbon, newspaper, balls of wool and string, strips of
carpet and dress fabric, wooden rods of various lengths, cuisenaire
/stern rods, old match boxes, dinkies, coloured clothes pegs, empty
plastic bottles.
Relationship labels are useful to have prepared eg. long
Graded development from Junior to Senior Infants:
 Long / short: Construct a treasure box consisting of approx. 10 pairs
of objects identical except for length. Initially the length difference
should be very obvious, but as the children become more accustomed to
comparing, this can become less so. Items included could be 2 red pencils,
2 pieces of blue ribbon, 2 strips of carpet, 2 pieces of coloured
wood….socks, scarves, necklaces……
Demonstrate how to compare two objects by placing them side by side,
with one end of each together.
Discussion and sorting of objects into long and short sets. Label each set.
Why is this pencil going into this set? The two pencils look alike, what is
different about them? Which is the long one? How do we find out which
one is the long one?

Long / short with non-identical objects eg. crayon, pencil, paper clip.
Some of the objects in the long set from the previous activity may be
short when compared to other objects eg a ruler or a very long piece
of string.

Constructing long and short objects - unifix cubes, cuisenaire rods
or plastercine. Show a long object or picture of one and ask the
children to make something short. Then show something short and ask
them to make the opposite.

Here is a long ribbon, now make a short one.
 Longer / shorter: Introduce the concepts longer than and shorter
than separately, to avoid confusion.
Use the same materials but with comparative language. Take one object
as a reference point. Use the treasure box and have the children pick
items from it that are longer than your reference point eg, the red pencil.
Make a set of items that are longer than the pencil and put aside on the
maths table. Select another reference point and start again.
**This exercise needs to be done many times with a variety of reference
points, so that the children understand that longer than is relative. Much
opportunity is thus provided for class discussion and participation.
Use the same approach to teach shorter than, perhaps the following day.
 "I Spy" Using the maths table and the items on it, I spy with my little
eye something longer than the blue ribbon…..

Tall / short This can confuse young children, therefore take plenty of
time to show examples of tall objects and teach that tall is used to
describe objects which are standing up on a base line eg. people, trees,
buildings…..use the classroom, the playground ..a tall tree, a short
bush, a tall lady, a short tree……

Constructing tall and short objects using unifix cubes, cartons,
bricks. This is similar to the activity described for long / short.

Make a book of tall things and short things. Similarly one could make
a book of long and short things.

Taller than / shorter than - use the same approach as described for
longer than / shorter than. Children could be compared as they stand
back to back. Caoimhe is tall, Meadhbh is taller. Who is the tallest?
A child could be used as a reference point to which others are
compared. Change the child regularly.

" I Spy" things that are taller / shorter than……

Longest / shortest - Have similar objects in three lengths eg. pencils,
ribbons, coloured pieces of wood……..Compare 2 objects The red one is
longer than the blue one. The yellow one is longer than the red one.
The yellow pencil is longest.

Longest / shortest - using objects that are not the same eg. ruler,
crayon and pencil. Changing one of the objects allows for much
discussion eg a longer ruler, a shorter pencil……
The children can make their own stairs or towers of unifix cubes that
are longer / shorter than an object from the treasure box.
** 3 objects is enough for JI to order, SI will usually manage to order up
to 5 objects**
 Measuring with non-standard units eg match boxes, clothes pegs,
cartons. Make sure there are no remainders.
Encourage the children to estimate the answer and record on bb. Keep a
tally, using counters. Change the non-standard unit of measure. Why do
we get a different answer when we use a carton instead of a matchbox?
 Measuring using non-standard units where there will be remainders lengths, widths and heights. Make sure you have sufficient units to
place end to end. Discuss choice of suitable unit. What is the best
thing to use to measure the length of the teacher's table, a match box
or a book? Length, width and height of the table could be measured.
Using one non-standard, measure objects in the classroom. Show the
need for tallying and working in pairs. Always get the children to
estimate their answers first and see the difference in both answers.

Wide / narrow…wider / narrower …………..explored in the same manner

Thick / thin….thicker / thinner ……….optional and explored in the
same manner