Read clocks to five minutes using am and pm

What you will learn

• Read clocks to five minutes using am and pm

Models used: number sentences, stories, diagrams.

Count the minute spaces

It is 25 minutes past three in the afternoon. What do the two hands tell us?

1. Start at three o’clock. The short hand shows the hour; the long hand begins at twelve.

2. Each big number marks five minutes. Count five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five to reach the 5.

   5 × 5 = 25 minutes

3. The short hand is part of the way from three to four. Read the time as 3:25. Because our story says afternoon, use pm.

   3:25 pm

Worked example: A new example, together

Read the clock. It is after noon.

1. Find the short hand for the hour and the long hand for minutes.

   The short hand locates the hour and the long hand counts minutes past it. The story tells us whether to use am or pm.

2. Read the hour from the short hand.

   Read the clock. It is after noon.

   10:50 pm

3. Read minute marks from the long hand.

4. Use the time-of-day information: 10:50 pm.

5. Check the result against the question we started with.

   The hour hand moves between hour numbers as the minutes pass.

   We found 10:50 pm. The short hand locates the hour and the long hand counts minutes past it. The story tells us whether to use am or pm.

Common mistakes to discuss

• Reading the hour the hand is nearest. The hour is the number the short hand has passed. At 3:50 the short hand is close to 4, but the time is ten to four, not 4:50.

Check your understanding

• Read clocks to five minutes using am and pm
• read the two hands of a clock
• check the answer against the original quantities and units

Explain your reasoning to an adult, then try a fresh question in the interactive lesson. A result from one attempt is not proof of lasting mastery.