Year 3 explorers read a clock face to five minutes and then to the exact minute, using the small marks between the numbers, and work out what time it will be after any number of minutes.
What your child will learn
- Read a clock face to five minutes, such as 8:35
- Read a clock face to the exact minute, such as 7:23
- Match any clock face to its digital time
- Work out the time after a number of minutes, crossing the hour
Fives, then ones
To read the minutes, count in 5s to the last number the minute hand has passed, then count the small marks one at a time. If the minute hand is 3 marks past the 4, that is 20 + 3 = 23 minutes.
Watch the hour hand
After :30, the hour hand is closer to the next number. At 2:50 it is nearly at 3 — but the hour is still 2 until the minute hand reaches 12.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. What time does the clock show?
- 3:05
- 4:05
- 3:01
- 2:05
Show answer
Answer: 3:05. The long minute hand points at 1: count in 5s from 12 and that’s 5 minutes. The short hour hand has just gone past 3. It is 3:05.
2. What time does the clock show?
- 1:10
- 1:02
- 12:10
- 2:10
Show answer
Answer: 1:10. The long minute hand points at 2: count in 5s from 12 and that’s 10 minutes. The short hour hand has just gone past 1. It is 1:10.
3. What time does the clock show?
- 1:50
- 2:50
- 1:10
- 10:05
Show answer
Answer: 1:50. The long minute hand points at 10: count in 5s from 12 and that’s 50 minutes. The short hour hand is nearly at 2 but hasn’t reached it, so the hour is still 1. It is 1:50.
Tips for grown-ups
- Ask for the exact time from an analogue watch or wall clock during the day.
- Read cooking times and journey times together: “We left at 3:40 and it takes 25 minutes…”