Telling time to the hour is one of the first clock skills young learners practice. An analog clock has two hands that work together to show the time. When the long minute hand points straight up to 12, the time is exactly on the hour.
For example, when the short hour hand points to 3 and the long minute hand points to 12, the time is 3 o'clock.
The long hand is called the minute hand, and it tells how many minutes have passed after the hour. At the hour, 0 minutes have passed, so the minute hand stays on 12. The short hand is called the hour hand, and it points to the hour number.
This helps students read times like 1 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and 9 o'clock by checking the short hand after seeing the long hand on 12.
Key Facts
- 1 hour = 60 minutes.
- At the hour, the minute hand points to 12.
- At the hour, the number of minutes is 00.
- The short hour hand shows the hour number.
- 3 o'clock is written as 3:00.
- If the minute hand is on 12 and the hour hand is on 7, the time is 7:00.
Vocabulary
- Analog clock
- An analog clock shows time with numbers around a circle and hands that point to the numbers.
- Hour hand
- The hour hand is the shorter hand that points to the hour number.
- Minute hand
- The minute hand is the longer hand that shows the minutes.
- O'clock
- O'clock means the time is exactly at the start of an hour, with zero minutes after it.
- 3:00
- 3:00 is a way to write 3 o'clock using numbers.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Mixing up the hour hand and minute hand is wrong because the long hand shows minutes and the short hand shows the hour.
- Saying the time is 12 o'clock whenever the long hand points to 12 is wrong because the short hand tells which hour it is.
- Reading 3:00 as thirty is wrong because the 00 means zero minutes after 3.
- Ignoring the numbers around the clock is wrong because the hour hand must point to a number to show the hour.
Practice Questions
- 1 The minute hand points to 12 and the hour hand points to 3. What time is it?
- 2 Write 8 o'clock using numbers with a colon.
- 3 A clock has the long hand on 12 and the short hand on 6. Explain how you know it is exactly on the hour.