KS1/KS2 numeracy: Telling the time

Whilst telling the time may seem simple to adults it’s actually a highly confusing concept to learn with many pitfalls for pupils. Stumbling blocks include the meaning of the different hands, the various values assigned to the numbers on the clock’s face as well as the lack of any numbers at all on some clocks. To make it that much harder, there are two completely different systems to learn as well. Luckily there are a large amount of numeracy activities and lesson ideas on the web to help you teach this topic.

Teaching Time

To introduce the concept of a clock I’d suggest using an interactive whiteboard, rather than a real clock, so children can clearly see what you’re referring to. There’s an analogue clock application at Teacher Led with movable hands that’s simple and easy to use for teachers and children alike.

The first thing to introduce is the large and small hands. Get children to discuss with their talking partners what they think each hand is for then make a show of moving each hand on the board. You can introduce the idea that there’s 60 minutes in an hour but the main focus should be showing children times to the hour. Move the hour hand round and see if children notice the positioning of the minute hand.

The basic idea of telling the time can be highlighted with some active learning. Why not get the children standing up and pretending to be a clock with their arms? Alternatively, take the lesson out to the school yard. Draw a clock face on the playground then take volunteers to act as hands on the clock, the more you can get children participate the more likely they are to remember the lesson. It’s worth remembering that games like this can be differentiated as much as necessary, if you’ve got a class who pick up the idea straight away then start introducing half past, quarter past, quarter too or even five minute intervals.

To keep children involved in the topic you could get them to make and use their own clock. A template like this one from the British Council could be made in a session then used to get all children involved in a time telling plenary.

Another way to keep young children engaged in the process is to combine the activity with a story. Eric Carle’s The Bad-Tempered Ladybird is perfect for this as each page mentions a time which children could find on their clock. Don’t worry if you don’t have the book, we’ve found a Powerpoint here, which could be easily adapted for your class.

As children progress further in school they should start to apply their knowledge to problems rather than just reading the time itself. Working out the difference between two given times in a word problem is a good place to start. As a whole class, try making number lines on the whiteboard with five minute intervals to help children find answers. There’s an online version on the BGFL site here if you need it, but it’s probably best to make your own problems based around your class topic to add some context. Once you’ve done something like this as a starter there’s plenty of scope to get children working on it independently with their own number lines.

ICT games and activities

There are loads of time based games on the net for you to use, these are great for starters, plenaries, ICT sessions or in continuous provision if it’s available.

For foundation stage or key stage 1 children Digger and the Gang is an interactive story that involves telling the time, there’s also Hickory Dickory Dock to test more able children on o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to times. If this is all proving too easy you could always use this little video to introduce 5 minute intervals, starring comedy heroes The Chuckle Brothers.

If you’re teaching key stage 2 children the BBC have another Digger and the Gang interactive story, Flick’s Adventure which has some more complex time based problems. I also recommend the Tell the Time game which combines, analogue, digital and am/pm questions.

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Maths

Numeracy

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