Measuring Time in Words
We often find the need to display times in the English language. When we are communicating time in word form there are many considerations that we must follow. There is a commonly accepted method for vocalizing time that slightly differs from writing conventions. Common mistakes that I find in my student’s writing includes capitalizing incorrectly and the use of periods or the lack of them. Students often are confused with the use of a.m. and p.m. at the midnight and noon positions specifically. I find that to be the most often confused aspect in their writing. The purpose of this section is to help students explore these conventions. This selection of lessons and worksheets teaches students how read, write, and interpret measures of time in written form.
Aligned Standard: 2.MD.C.7
- Time in Words Step-by-Step Lesson- On top of naming times, we work the halves and quarters of a clock. The pictures really help a great deal.
- Guided Lesson - Practice using the concepts and phrases of halves, quarters, past and to.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - We do a vocabulary review to kick this on off.
- Practice Worksheet - Time to words and then words to time.
- Matching Worksheet - Find the times that match up with the words and the phrases.
- By 5 Minutes Practice Worksheet - The clocks are all set in intervals of 5 minutes.
- By 5 Minutes Lesson - Kids love this one. I have used it with seventh graders and they all don't get hundreds; so read carefully.
- Matching Time to Words 5 Pack - Five pages of time and word matches.
- By Fifteen Minutes Lesson - A good lesson on the concepts of quarters.
- By Fifteen Minutes Practice Worksheet - At least you know the answer for minutes has to be just one of three possible choices.
- By Thirty Minutes Lesson - Another refresher on the hour and minute hand.
- By Thirty Minutes Practice Worksheet - It's either 30 after or a whole hour.
- Half Hour Lesson and Practice - Again we review half hours. Kids have a lot of trouble on this skill.
- Half Hour Practice Worksheet - Find the half hours. Basically it should be called write down thirty after the indicated hour.
- Half and Whole Hour Practice Worksheet - We mix the skills we have been working on.
- Whole Hour Lesson - Yet another review for everyone to work with.
- Whole Hour Practice Worksheet - Write the hour followed by double zero.
- Hour Hand Practice Worksheet - Draw the big and little hand.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
A.M. vs. P.M. is the big take away here.
- Homework 1 - The time in words would be half-past two o'clock.
- Homework 2 - Write the time indicated in number format.
- Homework 3 - We have to write this as digits. Ten indicates 10 minutes until the hour that follows.
Practice Worksheets
Don't forget to review some basic vocabulary like noon, midnight, midday.
- Practice 1 - Write the times in numeric time format.
- Practice 2 - There are four quarters and each quarter indicates 15 minutes.
- Practice 3 - We have two halves each half indicates 30 minutes
Math Skill Quizzes
Switch the words for actual numbers in the times.
- Quiz 1 - quarter past = 15 minutes after (x:15)
- Quiz 2 - quarter to = 15 minutes before (x:45)
- Quiz 3 - Write the times in words. 8:45 PM
How to Measure Time in Words
Do you know how to look at the clock and tell the time? We know that every day consists of 24 hours, and these 24 hours are divided into 12-hour increments. These hours are eventually divided into minutes and seconds. The first 12 hours of the day is referred to as am from the Latin phrase Ante meridiem which means before noon. The last 12 hours is referred to as pm from the Latin phrase Post meridiem which means after noon.
When a period of time that covers sixty minutes is known as an hour and a time period that consists of sixty seconds is known as a minute. When we look at an analog clock, we see two needles pointing at specific numbers and noting the time gets easier. The big hand indicates the hour, and the little hand indicates the minute. Some clocks have a third large thin line that moves very fast. This is because the third hand tracks seconds. We can easily grasp that if the big hand is pointing at 6 and the small hand is pointing at 5, its 6:25. But how do we say it in words?
To make things easier, we have made a few terms that make measuring time in words easier. For example, if the clock shows 6:15, we say its quarter to six. If the clock shows 5:30, we say that it is half-past five. If the clock shows 12:00, we say it is twelve o'clock. This is how the numbers go, make sure you know how to measure time in words too!
If we were to view the analog clock from the top of the hour, to determine how we would it words entirely depends on the position of the little hand (minutes). When it is positioned at the 12-position, we refer to that as o’clock. As it moves to the 1-position, we refer to that as five past (meaning 5 minutes past the hour) and this follows suit until we reach the 6-position. The next 4 positions follow this pattern: 2-position (ten past), 3-position (quarter past), 4-position (twenty past), 5-position (twenty-five past). When we reach the 6-position we refer to that as half past. As we advance to end of the hour, we refer to those positions as: to the hour positions. The 7-position is referred to as twenty-five to. The remaining positions all follow that pattern: 8-position (twenty to), 9-position (quarter to), 10-position (ten to), 11-position (five to).