2. You know that the clock has two
hands. The long hand is the
minute hand and the short hand is
the hour hand.
3. You also know that there are 12
numbers placed around the face of
the clock. Each number stands for a
certain number of minutes past the
hour. If you know how to count by
5’s then you know how to figure out
how many minutes past the hour it is.
4. • For example: When the minute hand is on
the 6, that means that it is 30 minutes past
the hour . We can use multiplication to help
out too. 6 X 5 = 30
6. More clock 5’s
• If the minute hand is on the 3, how many minutes
past the hour is it?
• 15
• How about on the 8?
• 40
• How about on the 5?
• 25
• How about on the 7?
• 35
• How about on the 11?
7. • The minute hand goes around once for
every hour. When the minute hand is on
the 12, the hour hand is pointing exactly at
an hour. When it has gone exactly between
the hours, it is called “half-past” the hour.
When the minute hand points to the 3, it has
gone a quarter of the way around, so it’s “a
quarter past” the hour.
8. • Now you are
really sailing
through this
activity………
keep up the
good work.
9. • An hour is 60 minutes, a quarter of that is
15minutes. So our “quarter past 4” is the
same as 15 minutes past 4. That’s what it
means when the minute hand points at the 3
on the clock. It is written as 4:15. The 4 is
the last number the hour hand pointed at,
and the 3 is the number the minute hand
points at.
10. • Let’s say that the hour hand is past the 1, in
fact more than halfway to the 2, the minute
hand points to the 7, meaning that it’s 35
minutes past the hour. That’s a little more
than half-past one.
• You can also call this 25 before 2.
11. How do you know that?
You can count by fives while you imagine the
minute hand continues around to the 12. It
will take 5 minutes to get to the 8, 10 to get
to the 9, then 15, 20, 25 minutes to get to
the 12. So it’s 25 minutes until the next
hour, which is 2.
12. • The hardest times to read are when it’s just
before an hour. That’s when it’s important
to understand how the hour hand moves.
Suppose it’s just five minutes before 2
o’clock. Then the hour hand is also at the
2, and the minute hand is at the 11. But we
read this as 1:55, not 2:55, because it’s 55
minutes after 1 and 5 minutes before 2.
13. We are almost finished
• You are
amazing……..I
knew you could
do it.
14. • The last step will be to learn to read minutes
between the fives. That can wait until
you’re ready. It’s best if you have a clock
that has a little mark at every minute.
Usually we don’t need to be that exact. If
the minute hand points near the 7, but not
exactly, you can say “it’s about 1:35.”
15. The big numbers
• The big numbers on the clock tell what
number hour it is when the hour hand points
there, but each one also stand for five
minutes. It will be helpful to get a clock
with the minute markings on it. Once you
get used to it, you should be able to imagine
the minute numbers around the outside, by
just counting by fives.
16. • Our time is up
for today. Now
all you have to
do is to practice
the skills you
have learned.
