How do you measure up?

Are you taller, shorter, or the same height?

To review and order sizes from largest to smallest the students worked cooperatively to make three different sized snow balls. Much discussion went in to stacking them strategically so that he, Frosty, could stand. One child noted " If we don't put them in the correct order he will slide off and he won't balance!" Of course details including the bow tie, (There was actually a debate if the bow would go on the head and he become a snowgirl- the guys seemed to take charge and won!) the nose, eyes, buttons,mouth, and arms also generated much discussion and resulted in a rather jolly looking lad. Quickly the students noticed the "snowboy" as they called him was rather tall and began to compare their sizes as they layed next to him. He was somewhat tall and they ask to trim him, again being specific about how and where, so that he remain "balanced". After only a few snips the class decided to let our tallest student compare heights. Imagine the excitement when they noticed Frosty was now shorter! This led to a measurement/comparison session including all the students. Fortunately I had some snowman shapes pre cut with anticipation that we would need them for the art center. With a flashback to a posting I saw on Pinterest with a snowman graph, I took this opportunity to review our graph skills and incorporate our measurement vocabulary. Students wrote their name on the snowman shapes and sorted them into groups of taller, shorter or the same as they measured each other. Already knowing the outcome before we made the graph, they worked with pride and urgancey to glue the shapes and confirm their results. The lesson was so student driven it made missing recess due to super cold South Georgia weather go unnoticed. Fun!