Have a fun time teaching children to read analog clocks with this whole-group math activity. Using large sets of the numerals 1-12 and 0, 5, 10...55, the teacher creates a large clock on either the carpet or the white board, explaining to young scholars the relationship between hours and minutes and how the hands of a clock are used to represent time. Young mathematicians then work in pairs creating different times on small practice clocks as they learn how to tell time using both words and numbers. This lesson serves as an excellent introduction to the concepts of time, building on the number sense of primary grade learners.

Concepts

analog clocks, time, hours

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Additional Tags

telling time, minutes, hours, reading clocks, math

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Pros

• Building a large class clock engages children in learning to tell time
• Includes multiple ideas for extending learning about how to read analog clocks

Cons

• Requires a class set of small analog clocks for students to use during the lesson
• Additional scaffolding may be required to support all children with telling time

Common Core

1.MD.A.1 1.MD.A.2 1.MD.B.3 1.MD.C.4