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Interactive Clock for Teaching Time (Analogue and Digital)

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Teach Starter Publishing Suitable for years:  1 - 6

Teach time with an interactive digital clock designed to add a hands-on element to this important primary school lesson!

Teaching Students to Tell the Time With Interactive Clock Fun ⌚

Learning to tell the time on an analog clock takes a lot of practice for some students.

Our Interactive Teaching Clock is the perfect tool to teach students how to read an analog clock face. With draggable hands and both an analogue clock and digital time display, you can use this interactive clock to demonstrate how a clock’s hands move in relation to each other, convert analog time to digital time and convert 12-hour time to 24-hour time — all in one handy classroom tool!

Random Time Function

Our clock widget has a random time function that moves the minute and hour hands to a randomised time at the click of a button. This is perfect for a quick-fire round of telling the time or adding some variety to your examples. Most importantly, you can customise this randomiser function to the year level you are teaching. The various options you can set this feature to include:

  • on the hour
  • on the half-hour (perfect when teaching time to Year 1 students)
  • on the quarter-hour (encourage Year 2 students to use the terms ‘past’ and ‘to’)
  • 5-minute multiples
  • any minute (great for time lessons with Year 3 students).

Teaching Kids How to Set the Time on an Analogue Clock

The hands of the Interactive Clock are draggable, allowing students and teachers to set the clock to a specified time.

The movement of the hands is unlinked by default (moving one will not cause the other/s to move). If you want to demonstrate the relative motion of each hand, select ‘Linked hands’ in the settings menu so that when you drag one hand, the others will move accordingly.

Explore Analogue and Digital Time

Use the show/hide digital time button to validate the students’ answers when telling the time.

  1. Hide the digital time.
  2. Click the random time button, giving the student new time to read on the analog clock.
  3. Ask the student to say the time as though it is on a digital clock, e.g. instead of ’20 minutes to six’, say ‘five forty.’
  4. Once they have said an answer, they can click to show the digital time to see if they are correct.
  5. Repeat these steps for a different student.

Teach Students to Tell the Time Using Past and To

A handy theme divides this interactive clock into Past and To segments, which helps students determine if the minute hand is on the ‘past’ or ‘to’ side of the clock.

Combine this with the ‘Past and To Helper Numbers,’ which display the five-minute intervals on each side as they approach or move away from the twelve.

 

Curriculum

  • VC2M2M04

    Recognise and read the time represented on an analog clock to the hour, half-hour and quarter-hour <ul> <li>creating an analog clock from a paper plate, showing the placement of the numbers and the 2 hands, and explaining how long it takes for the 2 hands to move around the clock face and what time unit each is showing</li> <li>recognising and describing the relationship between the movement of the hands on an analog clock and the duration of time it represents; for example, connecting the language of ‘half past’ to mean when the ‘big hand’ will be at half past the hour and recognising this position as being halfway around its full cycle</li> <li>dividing a clock face into halves and quarters, and connecting the subdivisions with telling the time to the half-hour and quarter-hour; and explaining the meaning of ‘quarter past’ and ‘quarter to’ referring to the hour</li> </ul>

  • VC2M3M03

    Recognise and use the relationship between formal units of time, including days, hours, minutes and seconds, to estimate and compare the duration of events <ul> <li>estimating how long it would take to read a set passage of text, and sharing this information to demonstrate understanding of formal units of duration of time</li> <li>planning a sequence of events based on estimates of the duration of each event; for example, planning a set of activities for a class party by estimating how long each game or activity will take</li> <li>reading or setting the time on digital devices to the minute or second; for example, setting an online timing device to count down from a set time, or setting the time on a digital clock</li> <li>using sand timers and digital timers to measure and check estimates of short durations of time, such as one minute, 3 minutes and 5 minutes</li> <li>exploring how cultural accounts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples explain cycles of time that involve the sun, moon and stars</li> </ul>

  • VC2M3M04

    Describe the relationship between the hours and minutes on analog and digital clocks, and read the time to the nearest minute <ul> <li>representing and reading the time on an analog clock using the markings and the positions of the hands, to the nearest minute mark or 5-minute interval</li> <li>reading and connecting analog and digital time, interpreting times, and recognising and using the language of time, for example, 12:15 as a quarter past 12, or 15 minutes past 12; 12:45 as a quarter to one or 15 minutes before one o’clock; and 10:05 as 5 minutes past 10</li> <li>reading analog clocks throughout the day, and noticing and connecting the position of the hour hand and the distance the minute hand has travelled during the current hour</li> </ul>

  • VC2M5M03

    Compare 12- and 24-hour time systems and solve practical problems involving the conversion between them <ul> <li>using timetables written in 24-hour time, such as flight schedules, to plan an overseas or interstate trip, converting between 24- and 12-hour time</li> <li>converting between the digital and analog representation of 24-hour time, matching the same times represented in both systems; for example, setting the time on an analog watch from a digital alarm clock</li> </ul>

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  • Lisa Donoghue
    ·

    My students are loving this 'widget' activity.