LESSON PLAN TIME (hour)

Vocabulary
hour
o'clock
minute hand
hour hand
colon

Objectives
To introduce the elements of a clock and explain their functions.
To teach telling time to the hour.

Background

Since there are 60 minutes in an hour children must be able to read and order numbers to 60 before they
can read time on the digital clock. Since time is often referred to in fractional terms on analog clocks it will
be helpful if children have an understanding of halves and fourths.
Direct student's attention to the clock. How many big numbers are on the clock? Have students point to the
hour hand. Tell them that when the hour hand moves from one number to the next, one hour has passed.
What can you do in an hour?

Have students point to the minute hand. Tell them that when the minute hand moves from one tick mark to
the next, one minute has passed. What can you do in a minute.

Lead a discussion about different timepieces (clock, watch, timer, hourglass) and the energy sources
required to run them (electricity, battery, wind-up movements). have students survey their homes and
count the number of timepieces they find. Guide students to design a chart or poster that reflects their
findings.

You can tell what time it is in several ways: the position of the sun in the sky, the length of shadows, the
activities people are doing, and clocks and watches.

Activities

1. Introduce a number line which contains the numerals one through twelve. Bend the number line into a
circle to resemble a clock face. Provide a worksheet with a large circle. Ask the students to place the
numerals inside the circle to make a clock face. According to the ability of the group, you may wish to
place some marks on the circle to facilitate spacing of the numbers. Print [clock with numbers] [clock
without numbers].

2. Review that the minute (long-blue) hand points to the twelve, while the hour (short-red) hand indicates
the hour. Provide a worksheet with clocks that have no hands on them. Underneath each clock, write a
time in the "o'clock" form. Have the students draw in the minute and hour hands to show the correct time.
Print Worksheet.

3. Have each student make a paper plate clock face. Using a brad fastener, attach tag board or
construction paper hands to the center of the plate. These clocks can then be used in various
reinforcement activities. For example, as the teacher calls out a time, the students show the correct time
on their clocks. This activity can be adapted to a team game. Divide the classroom into teams. When the
teacher calls a time, the first person to correctly display his/her clock gains a point for his/her team. Take
the Time Quiz.

4. Play "Time Tic-Tac-Toe." Prepare blank tic-tac-toe grids and duplicate these for the students. Print Grid
Have students write in times on the hour. (The degree of difficulty can be adapted as the students
progress.) Display a clock showing a time. If the student has that time written on his/her game board,
he/she may cover it with a marker. The first person to complete a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally
wins.

5. Write times to the hour from 1 o'clock to 12 oclock on index cards and a number from 1 to 12 on a
tagboard square. Place the numbers 1-12 in a large circle to form a clockface.

Children sit around the clock. Give 12 children each a time card to keep facedown. Two volunteers, one
taller than the other, stand in the center of the clock.

Ask:
Who should be the minute hand? Why? (the taller child because the minute hand is the long hand.)
Where should the taller child point to show 1 oclock? (to 12)
Where should the shorter child point? (to 1)
Children take turns holding up their index cards. Students tell where the children representing the hands
should point to show that time. Repeat the activity until all children have a turn to show the time.

6. Challenge children to guess how long 1 minute is. They close their eyes and lay down their heads while
you watch the clock. Each child raises a hand when he or she thinks 1 minute is up. Tell children that you
will put their hands back down if they are too early. Clap your hands when the minute is up. Have children
watch as the second hand goes around the clock once. Challenge them to try again to guess when the
mninute is up.

Lesson 2 - Telling Time: Telling Time: Half Hours

Vocabulary
digital clock
minutes
one-half
half-past

Objectives
To teach telling time to the half hour
To introduce telling time on a digital clock.

Background

Discuss the differences between the two clocks: digital and a clock with hands.
Discuss the differences between the hour hand and minute hand.

Discuss the fraction 1/2.

Show 4 o'clock on a demonstration clock. Move the minute hand halfway around the clock to 6 while
children count by fives.

Ask:

How many minutes have passed?

Where does the minute hand point?
Where does the hour hand point?
What time is it?
Write four-thirty , 4:30 and half past 4 on the chalkboard. Continue moving the minute hand around the
clock to 12 while children count by fives.

Ask:

How much time has passed?

What time is it now?

Discuss the two ways to read time at the half hour. (4:30 and half past 4) Where is the minute hand at half
past the hour?

Activities:

1. Play "Time Concentration." Prepare cards showing several times on the hour and half hour. Also
prepare matching cards with clock faces illustrating these times. Turn all cards face down individually.
Students may play one to one or form partners to play the game. One student turns over two cards, trying
to match a clock face with the corresponding time card. If the cards match, the student removes the cards
and keeps them. If the cards do not match, the student replaces the cards face down, and the next player
takes a turn. The game continues until all the cards are matched. The player with the most matches wins.

2. Reinforce skills at a learning center for telling time. Prepare cards showing clock faces on the half hour.
The students will match the clock faces to cards which record the time in standard notation form or with the
words 'half past' the hour.

3. Have students make their own TV guides. For each program the student must record the day, channel
and time, and draw a clock face indicating when the show begins.

Lesson 3 - Telling Time: 5 Minute Intervals

Vocabulary

Objectives
To introduce counting by fives.
To teach telling time to the five minute intervals.
To teach tellling time to the quarter hour

Discussion:

What are some important times in your day?

Practice counting by fives in unison and individually.

Students point both hands of their clocks to 12. What time does the clock show? 12:00
Have students move the minute hands of their clocks, counting the minutes by fives as the hands pass
each number until they get to 15.

What time is it now? 12:15

Write 12:15 on board and fifteen minutes after 12 on the board

Children countinue moving the minute hands around the clocks and counting by fives, stopping at each
quarter hour and saying the time. Write each time on the chalkboard.

Activities:

1. Have students draw the hands on the clocks to represent the correct time. Demonstrate the answers for
students to self-check their work. Worksheet
2.Play "What Time Is It?" One student is the town crier. He/she describes the time; e.g. "The hour hand is
on the three, the minute hand is on the 2. What time is it?" Other students must guess the time. Clocks
may be used to help figure the time. Take the Time Quiz.

3. Discuss what happens during the students' day at specific times. Have students write the time in
standard notation form, then draw a picture to illustrate the activity. This activity can be varied to
incorporate ideas such as a picture diary of a day at school, at home, or visiting a special place.

4. Play "Time Trail." Prepare a game board with a patch of clocks from start to finish. Each player rolls the
dice and moves forward to land on a clock. The student must read the time. If the time is incorrectly read,
the move is canceled. Play continues until all players have reached the end. Print Game Board