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Week 07 · Time and Plans

Monday

Read the clock
// Read the clock, count the minutes, make a plan that works
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Read the clock

Chris the Coyote trots up to the den with a big yawn. "I was late for Helper chart time again. The clock and I are not friends."

Oliver the Owl blinks his wide eyes. "Then let us make friends with it. A clock is just two hands and sixty little marks."

He taps the den clock. "The short hand tells the hour. The long hand tells the minutes. Watch."

Oliver sits at a desk. Beside him are a wall clock, a weekly planner and a kitchen timer.

Two hands, two jobs

A clock face has the numbers 1 to 12 around the edge. It also has small marks between the numbers.

The short hand is the hour hand. It moves slowly. It points to the hour, or just past it.

The long hand is the minute hand. It moves faster. It points to the minutes.

There are 60 minutes in one hour. Each small mark on the clock is one minute.

Count the minutes

Reading the minutes is a counting job. Start at the top of the clock, at the 12. That is zero minutes.

Each big number is five more minutes. The 1 is 5 minutes. The 2 is 10 minutes. The 3 is 15 minutes.

Count by fives to the big number just before the minute hand. Then count the small marks by ones.

Minute hand points toCount by fivesMinutes
The 35, 10, 1515
The 65, 10, 15, 20, 25, 3030
The 9Nine fives45
Two marks past the 420, then 21, 2222
  1. Look at the short hand. Say the hour it points to or just passed.
  2. Look at the long hand. Count by fives to the big number before it.
  3. Count the extra small marks by ones.
  4. Say the time: hour, then minutes.
WHICH HAND?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which hand tells you the hour?
The minute hand points to the 6. How many minutes is that?
The minute hand points to the 12. How many minutes past the hour?

Say the whole time

The hour hand is between the 7 and the 8. The minute hand points to the 4. The time is 7:20.

The hour hand is just past the 3. The minute hand points one mark past the 9. The time is 3:46.

When the hour hand sits between two numbers, the hour is the smaller one. The hour is not over yet.

How many minutes are in one hour?
The minute hand points to the 9. How many minutes?
The hour hand is between the 7 and the 8. What is the hour?
StatementTrue or false?
The long hand is the minute hand.?
The 3 on the clock means 3 minutes.?
Each small mark is one minute.?
The hour hand moves faster than the minute hand.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEBig numbers count fives. Small marks count ones. The slow short hand names the hour.
The hour hand is just past the 10. The minute hand points to the 2. What time is it?
WHY THIS EXERCISETwo fives make 10 minutes. The time is ten past ten, written 10:10.
Try it
Find a clock with hands at home. A watch or a kitchen clock works.
Say the time out loud to your grown-up. Hour first, then minutes.
Check it against a phone or screen clock. Were you right?
Safety first
Do not climb to reach a wall clock. Ask your grown-up to bring it down or read it from the floor.

Great work, Helper! You read the clock to the minute. Tomorrow Oliver shows how to count the minutes between two times.