What happened before the lesson?

Where did the idea come from? 
I first saw this idea in a Pre-kindergarten classroom. The teacher had children measure pumpkins in this way. 

What had the children learned BEFORE this lesson? 
Children had measured lengths, distances, and heights using nonstandard and standard measurers. Previously, they had never measured around objects.

What did you plan to do AFTER this lesson?
A variety of spherical objects will be added to the water table center along with pipe cleaners and measuring tape. Children will continue to explore measuring the distance around objects and floating and sinking experiences.  

What's happening during the lesson?

Objective: Children will measure fruit by measuring their circumference and describing fruits as heavy or light when they hold them.

Introduction:
Children use pipe cleaners to measure around their heads and classify the measurement as “goes around” or “does NOT go around”.

Procedure:

1. Each child is given a different fruit and asked to see if a pipe cleaner goes all the way around or does NOT go all the way around.
2. Each child describes a different fruit using the words heavy or light.
3. Fruits are placed in the water tub and described as floating fruits or sinking fruits.

What will I do after the lesson?

What are your reflections on this lesson?
The center teacher in this lesson emphasized the vocabulary that children used and reinforced the correct, more specific meanings (e.g., rather than the word big, he suggested the word heavy).  

In addition, it is important to note that the purpose of the floating/sinking activity was not to see which fruits were the heaviest (heavy fruits do not necessarily sink; light fruits do not necessarily float). Rather, the teacher wanted to simply have children experiment and use the terms heavy and light while they experimented.

How would you describe the teaching that occurred using the words on the Continuum of Teaching Behaviors? 
The center teacher SCAFFOLDED the behavior of the children with questions and actions.