Converting Feet to Inches with Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

INTRODUCTION 

Cricket, the main character in Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, runs away to the tree house she built with her father. Students can use the distance of the tree house from the ground to learn how to convert standard measurements.

On pages 23-24 of the novel, Cricket describes the tree house. In the description, she states how high the tree house is from the ground.

1. Choose a student or students to read the description aloud.

2. Instruct students to find the measurement of the distance in the book and write it down. Provide each student with a 12” ruler. Remind them that the ruler equals one foot. Show them the inches on the ruler.

Make a note on the board that one foot = 12 inches.

MAIN LESSON

1. Cricket’s treehouse is seven feet off the ground. Have seven students come up with their rulers and measure seven feet up the wall. As it becomes too high, you might help the students, allow a student to stand on a chair, or enlist the help of another teacher. Mark the height with tape so the students can see how high the tree house was.

2. Tell students they’re going to find that same distance in inches. Point out the note on the board that one foot = 12 inches. Give the students a few minutes to figure out the conversion on their own.

3. As a class, show how the conversion was made. Have 7 students come to the front with their rulers and measure up to the tape line. Each time a student adds his/her ruler, write the number of inches on the board. It should look something like this:

12
12
12
12
12
12
12

4. Tell the class that since the mark is 7 feet high, it is equal to 7 12’s in inches. Have the class add the inches.

5. Ask the students for an easier way to convert it. Students should answer 7 x 12.

6. Reiterate that when converting from feet to inches, multiply the number of feet x 12 (the number of inches in one foot).

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

1. Provide students with other distances from the treehouse to the ground.

2. Have the students convert the distances from feet to inches.

Differentiation: Instead of measuring seven feet up the wall, consider measuring out seven feet on the ground. Allow the students to have a tactile discovery that repeated addition functions as multiplication and how we can represent this work numerically and procedurally.

Extension: Have the students convert distances from inches to feet.

Assess students’ understanding of converting feet to inches using the additional distance problems given to the students.