Effective Ways to Teach Time

To start our lesson on time I have my students share what they know about a clock. What is it used for? What features does it have? What does it measure? After a discussion, I give my students a few tools: neon index cards, hula hoops, some scrap paper and Sharpie® markers. I then have them work as a team to create a clock. I love using these hula hoops for a starting point they come in segments so the students have to assemble them, some divide in colors some make patterns. After they construct their hoop I ask them if they can think of a way to show me quarters on the clock. Most are able to see the divisions of time easier when color coordinated. After some reassembling of their hoops they are ready to start labeling. When they are done they should have something that resembles a clock. Now we can begin the fun stuff! I start off easy by asking them to show my times on the hour, like 3 o'clock or 5 o'clock. Then we warm up by counting minutes by 5's. After a few group examples I have them work with the clock flashcards from the teaching time magnetic activity set and take turns using their hula hoop clock to show the time. Throughout the week I leave a few of these clocks set up and pull my students over for some hands-on practice. You can extend the activity by having them label quarter after, quarter 'til, half past etc. They have a lot of fun working in their time teams and will quickly become masters of time! As my students get more comfortable with telling time I challenge them using the teaching time magnetic activity set and dry erase clocks. They start off by showing me a time on a card that they choose. I then ask them word problems to show elapsed time. Asking questions like these will help them with real world problem solving. I ask them to show me 20 minutes before or twenty minutes after a time. By having a visual cue, my students can recall the clock they created previously and are better able to answer higher order thinking questions regarding time. While they think they are playing a game they are really mastering their math skills. I hope you have as much fun learning with clocks as we did!