This month and each week is just flying by…I can’ t believe it’s already another Wait for it Wednesday! I’m excited to share some teaching tips on telling time + a FREEBIE. We are just finishing up our unit on this and I have some fun ideas to share with you!
PRE ~ LESSON { anticipatory set }
I found this tip once years ago when I was observing a teacher while getting my credential and have used it ever since…it’s such a great idea and visual for the kids. First I start the lesson telling the kids we are going to learn about telling time and I call up a volunteer
{ boy }. I talk about how I know his mama raised him well, etc., etc. that I know he has the best manners ever…. then I tell him to act out and respond to me appropriately. So I walk up to the classroom door as if to open it…he rushes to open it for me like a gentleman and …..I’ve started my lesson. Sounds funny right?!!? Well it works. I praise him up and down for being a gentleman and letting ladies go first. That leads me right into my anchor chart and how manners tie into telling time.
THE PERFECT ANCHOR CHART
This leads perfectly into the anchor chart ~ ~ ~ After acting out the manners pre lesson I show them this pre made anchor chart.
We talk about manners and how men should open doors for women like the picture above with the pre lesson. We discuss the ‘ladies first‘ theory and show that the small hand ( hour ) is the lady hand and you should read it FIRST when telling time. My students have done a great job with remembering ladies first.
I found this brilliant video that talks about this exact concept: This guy is great: teachertipster.com if you haven’t found him yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBXW6ypG0xo
Here’s a brilliant post on teaching the hour hand correctly from the start! I love this! Props to Cindy Lee of Ainslee Labs. Click { here } to read about how she teaches this concept.
This is a little gem I’ve used for years – probably close to 20 years. It’s most perfect for first grade in my opinion. Firsties are unique in that often this is their first and only experience in a whole day learning environment. They are tired….I mean TIRED at the beginning of the year. They think it’s time to go home at like 10:45 am. I remember some of them asking, ” Mrs. Moore is it time to go home yet and I was like girl…we haven’t even had snack yet.” #sadville
So I used 4 clocks – not only did it keep my SANITY but it taught them a little concept of time as well.
We’ve all seen these pictures all over pinterest.
These are truly wonderful and helpful ideas and great for kids to see for sure.
**The difference is that I don’t keep these clocks up all day. ** As the time approaches I slide a clock down from my white board. So my littles could see oh, we started our day with 4 clocks and now I have 3 more clocks until I go home….or ok we’ve had snack and Mrs. Moore pulled the second clock down so I only have 2 more clocks until I go home. It’s kinda like the 2 more sleeps until Nana or 1 more sleep until Disney World. I wish I could show you the magic that happens when you do this. It will REDUCE and ELIMINATE the tears or questions. When is it lunch? When do we go home? Also even if they can’ t tell time yet it’s still a wonderful visual for them to make sense of time even elapsed time. When telling time comes around they will have a better idea of how time works.
You can choose to either draw the hands on with sharpie OR I would either use Expo markers or create hands with tag board and pin them in with a brad. You never know when your schedule might change and you don’t want the clocks to have permanent marks on them. Don’t forget to laminate for durability.
So at this point in the day ~ ~ I would say, “Oh my goodness boys and girls we only have 2 clocks left of our day. Look we’ve already passed up 2 clocks and worked so hard. Isn’t the day flying by?!?” Of course at the beginning of the year in first grade you never know what answer you’re going to get. It might be a: NO!!! This is the longest day ever…where’s my mama! Or Wow, it is flying by Mrs. Moore you’re the best teacher ever! But either way this clock trick works like a charm! If you want the clock I used I’ve included it on my Google Docs for you. You can grab this freebie { here }
If all else fails just think about this: LOL
Hope this gave you some great tips on teaching time! See you next Wednesday for my next Edition of Wait for it Wednesday: same place, same time!
xo,
