The Clock - Part I

Age
6-9.

Materials

 * Clock with movable hands (it is helpful to be able to remove the hands), divisions for minutes.
 * Metal insets 1/2 and 1/4.
 * Rubber stamps of clock face without hands.
 * Paper strips the length of the circumference of the clock.
 * Two loose hands, hour and minute.

Presentation
1. Introduction


 * 1) "Think of all the kinds of clocks or watches there are.
 * 2) The kind of clock with hands is called a face clock.
 * 3) The clock is round like a face.
 * 4) But no matter what kind of clock we are looking at, it is still measuring the same hour and minute of the day in our own time zone.
 * 5) There are 24 hours in a day, 12 hours for day and 12 hours for night".
 * 6) Look at the clock in front of you.
 * 7) Use the hour hand to count out the hours as it moves around the clock from 1-12.
 * 8) "But I told you there were 24 hours! The clock goes around 2 times to make a day."
 * 9) The hands are placed on the 12 to represent noon.
 * 10) "What hour does this arrow point to? What happens at 12:00? Twelve o'clock is called 'noon' After 'noon' there are 12 hours more. At the next 12:00, it is the middle of the night, 'midnight'. There are 12 hours before noon and 12 hours afternoon. Noon usually represents the sun at its zenith, at the highest point of the day. (Noon comes from the Latin prefix non meaning nine. It is supposed to be nine hours from sunrise, which would be about 3:00).

2. The hours


 * 1) "Let's see what time you do the things that are important to you. What time do you get up? 7:00? This is 7:00".(or the child sets the clock to the correct time)
 * 2) The child makes a book of the things s/he does on a normal school day on the hour, and the time s/he does it.

3. The half-hours


 * 1) The day is divided into 24 hours but each hour is also divided into parts.
 * 2) There are 60 minutes in each hour.
 * 3) From 12:00 to 1:00 is sixty minutes.
 * 4) Each little mark on the clock represents a minute, or 60 seconds.
 * 5) People make telling time much easier by skip counting by 5's and by remembering how many minutes make a half.
 * 6) Count by 5's to 30 and then place a half fraction inset down.
 * 7) This is twelve thirty or half past twelve.
 * 8) When it is half past twelve, the hour hand is halfway between the twelve and the 1.
 * 9) Children can make a book of "Half pasts" with stamps.

4. Minutes


 * 1) The hands show 3:00.
 * 2) How can I show 5 minutes after 3:00?
 * 3) I can count the little minutes.......or I can count by 5's like we did when we learned half past. 
 * 4) 5 minutes past 3 is written 3:05.
 * 5) Children can make a book of one hour of minutes counting by 5's.

5. Quarters


 * 1) Show a clock with example 8:15.
 * 2) Put the red 1/4 inset down to show 15 minutes past is 1/4 past the hour. Therefore 8:15 is a quarter past 8.
 * 3) Show a clock with 8:30 - remember half past 8?
 * 4) Show a clock with 8:45 on the clock.
 * 5) How many minutes have past? 45.
 * 6) There is one quarter to go to the next hour.
 * 7) This is called a quarter to 9.
 * 8) Then you can teach 10 to the hour, 5 minutes to, etc.

Variation
Use rubber stamp to make booklets of quarter to, quarter after, etc.