Tell and Write Time to the Half-Hour

Students will tell and write time to the half-hour using both analog and digital clocks. Students learn that when the minute hand points to 6, the time is at the half-hour (:30), and they identify the hour by the position of the hour hand between two numbers.

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Grade 1 · Telling Time · question 1 of 3

0 of 12

12 rungs. A star at the top.

What time is it?

Your answer:

How it is taught

0:00 of 3:02

The long hand on 6 means half past.

Look at the clock beside this page.

Read it: O'clock and half past

The long hand on 12 means o'clock: 3:00. The long hand on 6 means half past: 3:30.

Find the short hand. It points at 3, so the hour is 3.
Find the long hand. It points at 12, so it is o'clock.
Say the hour, then o'clock: 3 o'clock. We write 3:00.

The short hand moves slowly, from 1 numeral to the next in 1 hour. It shows the hour.

The long hand goes all the way round in 1 hour. On 12, a new hour has just begun.

On 6, the long hand is half way round. That is half past the hour.

The short hand tells the hour. The long hand tells o'clock or half past.

Reading the long hand as the hour and saying it is 12 o'clock.

The long hand on 12 means o'clock. The short hand is on 3, so it is 3 o'clock.

The long hand is on 6. The short hand has passed 5. What time is it? — 5:30. The long hand on 6 means half past: half past 5, 5:30.

3:30 — half past three

It's snack time! Let's read the clock together. What time is it?

A clock face has the numbers one through twelve all the way around.

Grade 1 · Reading the clock at the half-hour

The long hand is the minute hand. Look where it's pointing — right at the six.

When the minute hand points to the six, we're halfway around the clock. That means thirty minutes.

The short hand is the hour hand. Now let's see where it points.

It's right between the three and the four.

When the hour hand is between two numbers, we use the smaller one. So the hour is three.

We write the time like this: three, colon, three, zero.

We can also say it like this: half past three.

The time is three thirty. Great job reading the clock!

Now you try. Read the hands and write the time. What time is it?

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal: 1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now: Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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