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Common Core MathKindergartenMeasurement & Data

K.MD.1: Describe Measurable Attributes

Also written as K.MD.A.1 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1 · Cluster: Describe and compare measurable attributes.

Make a K.MD.1 WorksheetAll 22 Kindergarten Math Standards

The Official Wording

Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.

Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Measurement & Data · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What K.MD.1 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners learn that an object has things about it you could measure. Hand a child a water bottle and ask what we could find out: how tall it is, how heavy it is, how much water fits inside. No numbers, no rulers, just the words long, heavy and full.

The second sentence of the standard matters most: one object has several attributes at once, so a pencil is both long and light. This vocabulary is what children compare with in K.MD.2, and in 1st grade they order three objects by length (1.MD.1) and measure with units (1.MD.2).

K.MD.1 I Can Statements

  • I can tell what could be measured on an object.
  • I can use words like long, heavy and tall.
  • I can name more than one thing to measure on the same object.

K.MD.1 Worked Example

One water bottle from the classroom shelf, described three different ways, which is the whole standard in a single object.

Problem

Pick up the blue water bottle from the shelf. What could we measure about it?

Three things to measure on one water bottle
  1. Stand it up next to the glue stick. There is a “how tall” to this bottle.tall, taller than the glue stick
  2. Lift it with one hand, then lift the empty one. There is a “how heavy” to it too.heavy when full, light when empty
  3. Look at the water inside. There is a “how much it holds” as well.holds a lot of water
  4. Say all three together. One bottle, three things we could measure.tall, heavy, holds a lot
AnswerThe bottle has at least three measurable attributes: height, weight and how much it holds.

Check it: Ask the class for a fourth. “How wide is it?” counts. “It is blue” does not, because blue is not something you can have more or less of.

Common Mistakes with K.MD.1

Naming a color or a shape

Asked what we could measure, the child says “it is red” or “it is round”

Try this: Ask whether the bottle could have more or less of that. More red makes no sense, but more tall does, so tall is measurable.

Big as the only word

Every object is “big” or “small”, whether it is long, heavy or full

Try this: Hold up a long light scarf and a short heavy book, and ask which is longer and which is heavier. Big is not enough.

Stopping at one attribute

“The pencil is long.” and nothing else, even when asked for more

Try this: Keep a question chain ready: how long, how heavy, how wide, how much does it hold. Every object answers at least two.

Where K.MD.1 Fits

Comes BeforeK.CC.6Decide which of two groups has more or fewer, the same more and less language applied to counts.
AlongsideK.MD.2Compare two objects directly to see which is longer, taller or heavier.K.G.4Describe the parts of shapes in informal words, like sides of equal length.
Comes Next1.MD.1Order three objects by length and compare two lengths through a third object.1.MD.2Measure length by laying same-size units end to end.

Practice K.MD.1

Math Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolKindergarten measurement pages: circle the longer, the heavier and the one that holds more. Each row is one attribute, which keeps the vocabulary in front of students.KindergartenMeasurementAnswer key
Make a Worksheet
Graph Paper GeneratorFree ToolLarge-square grid paper. Students lay a crayon, a glue stick and a paintbrush along the squares and talk about which reaches farther, a first look at length before any unit counting.Large squaresOne page
Make Graph Paper

Quick Check

  1. Name two things you could measure about a shoe.
  2. Is “green” something you can measure? Why or why not?
  3. Mr. Lee holds up a full backpack. What three words tell about things we could measure on it?

K.MD.1: Other Names

K.MD.1K.MD.A.1CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.