Telling Time to the Hour
The Hands of Time
The long hand is the
minute hand.
The short hand is the
hour hand.
The Hands of Time
55
50
60
5 10
15
20
45
25
40
35 30
There are 60 minutes on
a clock face. Skip count
by fives to count the
minutes with me.
The Hands of Time
Count the numerals on
the clock. There are only
12 hours on a clock face.
So, the hour hand is a
short hand.
“Minute” is a
long word.
The minute
hand is the
longer hand.
hour
“Hour” is a
short word.
The hour
hand is the
shorter hand.
When the
minute hand is
pointing to 12,
read the time as
“o’clock”. In
this case, the
hour hand is
pointing to the
3 and it is
“three o’clock”.
Now the minute
hand is pointing
to 12 and the
hour hand is
pointing to the
5. So, we read
the time as
“five o’clock”.
Four Quarters
• If we were to slice the
clock into 4 equal
sections, we would
have 4 QUARTERS.
Each quarter would
represent a 15 minute
section.
A Quarter After
• When the minute hand
is pointing to the
numeral 3, we say that
the time is “A quarter
after/past _____.”
Here, the clock shows
a quarter past seven,
or 7:15.
A Quarter Til/To
• When the minute hand
is pointing to the
numeral 9, we say that
the time is “A quarter
til/to _____.” Here,
the clock shows a
quarter to five, or
4:45.
Half Past
• When the minute hand
is pointing to the
numeral 6, we say that
the time is “Half past
_____.” Here, the
clock shows half past
2, or 2:30. Notice
how the hour hand is
half-way in between
the 2 and the 3.
AM/PM
• 12:00 AM is MIDNIGHT (We are sleeping)
• 12:00 PM is NOON (lunchtime)
• When we say AM, we are referring to the
hours before NOON.
• When we say PM, we are referring to the
hours past NOON.
Important Facts About Time
•
•
•
•
•
60 seconds= 1 minute
60 minutes= 1 hour
24 hours= 1 day
30 minutes= 1 half hour
15 minutes= 1 quarter hour
The End