Each student will need an individual clock.
To begin the lesson, ask:
- What do the red numbers on the clock represent? (hours)
- How many hours are shown on the clock face? (12)
- What do the blue numbers on the clock
represent? (minutes)
- Look at the minutes on your individual clock. How
many minutes are there between the 60 and the
5-minute mark? (5 minutes) How do you know?
(There are five 1-minute intervals between the
blue 60 and the blue 5.)
- How many minutes does the clock face show? (60)
- What is another name for 60 minutes? (1 hour)
- What is another name for 30 minutes? (half hour)
- What do you notice about the hands you see on
the clock? (Possible response: There are
two hands; one is blue and one is red. The blue
hand is longer than the red hand. The blue hand
points to the blue numbers, or to the minutes, and
the red hand points to the red numbers, or the hours.)
Briefly review the position of the hour and minute
hand for various times of the day. Ask students to set
the hands of their individual clocks as you model on
the demonstration clock. Begin by showing times to
the nearest 15 minutes; for example, 1:00, 2:15,
3:30, or 4:45.
Ask prompts similar to the following:
- Show 2:15 on your clock. Where is the minute
hand pointing when it is 2:15? (It is pointing to
the blue 15. It is also pointing to the red 3.)
- Which of these numbers tell you the number of minutes? (the blue 15)
- Where is the hour hand pointing when it is 2:15? Is
it closer to 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock? (a little past the
red 2; it is closer to 2 o’clock)
- Show 4:45 on your clock. Where is the minute
hand pointing when it is 4:45? (It is pointing at the
blue 45 and the red 9.)
- Which number tells you the number of minutes
past the hour of 4? (the blue 45)
- Where is the hour hand pointing at 4:45? (It is
between the 4 and 5 and is closer to the 5.)
- Why is the hour hand closer to the 5 when it is
4:45? (because it is almost 5 o’clock)
Next, ask students to set the hands of their individual
clocks as you model times to the nearest 5 minutes
on the demonstration clock. For example, show
times such as 6:20, 4:55, and 8:50. Have students
count the minutes from 8:00 to 8:50 by counting to
fifty by 5s (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50).
Repeat this with the other times.
- Show me 7:35. How did you know where to place
the hands of the clock? (Possible response: I
know the little red hand is about halfway
between the 7 and the 8 because it is past
7 o’clock and not yet 8 o’clock. I started at 0 and
counted by fives, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 to 35 and
that is where I placed the blue minute hand.)
- Show me 5:10. How do you know you have shown
5:10? (Possible response: It is only a little past
5 o’clock and I’ve shown that by placing the red
hour hand closer to the 5 than the 6. The blue
number next to each red number on the clock is a
multiple of 5. I’ve shown
10 minutes past 5 by
pointing the blue minute hand at the blue 10.)
- Show me 11:20. How do you know you have shown 11:20?
Remind students that they can use times to the nearest
15 minutes such as 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, and 3:45 to
help them read other times to the nearest five minutes.
- How does knowing 3:00 on the clock help you
know 3:05? (Possible response: I know that at
3:00, the minute hand will be pointing directly at
the top of the clock. Then I just count on 5 minutes
to get to 3:05.)
- How does knowing 3:15 on the clock help you
know 3:20? (Possible response: I know what the
clock face looks like at 3:15. When it shows
3:20, I don’t have to begin counting the minutes
back at 0. I just start at 3:15 and count on 5 minutes
to 3:20.)
- How does knowing 3:30 on the clock help you
know 3:35? 3:25? (Possible response: You can
think about what 3:30 looks like and then count
on 5 minutes for 3:35 or count back 5 minutes for 3:25.)
- How does knowing 3:45 on the clock help you
know 3:50? 3:40? (Possible response: The minute
hand for 3:50 will be 5 minutes past 3:45 and the
minute hand for 3:40 will be 5 minutes before 3:45.)
- Do you know whether these times are AM or PM?
Explain. (No, we don’t know because we need to
know whether it is daytime or nighttime, or what
activities are being done at this hour.)
Continue to practice telling time to the nearest 5 minutes until students are comfortable.
