Amazing Time-Teller to the Nearest Half-Hour and Quarter-Hour

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

We are going to dive right in and learn more about how to tell time to the nearest half-hour using analog and digital clocks.

If you missed or want a refresher on the previous lesson in our Becoming an Amazing Time-Teller series, check it out under Related Lessons in the right-hand sidebar.

Telling time to the nearest half-hour and quarter-hour can be challenging, especially when using an analog clock, because the hour hand moves as the minute hand moves around the clock.

There are so many different ways to say the time when referring to the half-hour or quarter-hour. Here are some examples:

• When the minute hand is on the 3, it is called quarter-after or 15 minutes after the hour.
• When the minute hand is on the 6, it is called half-past the hour.
• When the minute hand is on the 9, it is called quarter-'til the next hour or 15 minutes until the next hour.

Watch this short Learning Time Fun video explaining Telling Time for Kids, Quarter Past, Half Past, Quarter ‘Til | Clock for Kids | Tell Time in English to see a few examples of how to tell the difference:

Practice with your parent or teacher, and show him or her the different times, starting at quarter-after, moving to half-past, then to quarter-'til.

Practice choosing the right time by playing the Hickory Dickory Dock game, by James Barrett. Click on the clock that shows the time displayed at the bottom; if the time is correct, the mouse will run up the clock to get the cheese! So much fun!

• Did you notice that some of the times were more difficult to understand than others?

Sometimes, it is easy to confuse quarter-'til with quarter-past the hour.

• Did you get all the times correct or were there some that were a little confused?

Talk this over with your parent or teacher, then move on to the Got It? section to play a game to review what you learned!