U.S. And Metric Conversions: Activities for ESL Teachers

My dad tells the story of a really good mechanic he worked with from another country. For some reason, though, he couldn't quite get the trucks he was working on fixed. The problem? The mechanic was working with metric measurements in his repairs instead of the standard measurement system used in the United States. He had to learn how to use a ruler with inches in order to do his job correctly.

In order to understand and successfully complete a lot of tasks in the U.S., English as a second language students will have to learn how to read and understand how a ruler works that has inches on it, how many cups are in a pint for cooking, how long a mile is compared to a kilometer, etc. Spending some time with your ESL students as they navigate the U.S.' measurement systems will prove invaluable to them in the future.

Here are a couple of resources and ideas to learn about following and creating recipes in English for your students, as well as some other resources that can help students learn about weights and distances.

You could plan to have an international food day in your class and use it as an activity for students to learn more about cooking vocabulary and the different measurement conversions required for recipes to turn out well. Kenneth Beare from About.com recommends that students work in small groups to come up with a recipe that can be made and then presented to the class. He lists some important cooking vocabulary and some various activities that can accompany this lesson. He has also included a chicken recipe to get the ball rolling! Find his lesson plan and ideas here.

This website has equivalency charts for students who are curious to learn the exact formulas to switch between their home country's method of measurement and that of the U.S. for cooking. There is also a link to a conversion calculator that can take the time and frustration out of figuring out exactly how many milliliters are in a cup.

It will also be important for students to be able to figure out distances in the U.S. Reading a map, estimating distances and lengths, and figuring out how far it is to the closest bus stop are all basic activities that will require that students understand how to use a ruler, a yard stick, how long a mile actually is, etc.

This site is geared toward teachers of elementary-aged students who are learning how to convert and measure. It lists sites that generate worksheets for teachers, and there are a couple of interactive activities to do on the Internet for some extra practice. This site also has some online, interactive games for students to practice measurement and conversion.

The activities for the classroom in this PDF document could easily be switched around to teach how to weigh and measure in ounces and inches, respectively. It provides some in-class activities that are hands-on and that would be appropriate even for adult learners.

Providing interactive and hands-on activities for your class to practice using the system of weights and measures in the U.S. will show students how important it is that they learn it as thoroughly as possible. Creating conversion sheets for students to reference at home is also another idea to help them as they deal with the daily ins and outs of figuring out how many feet are in a yard. Knowing how many yards are in an American football field can be really important when trying to figure out that game for the first time!