Time - Writing time - Planning

In the second week of the summer term, Year 1 students are introduced to the concept of writing time, focusing on hours, minutes, and seconds. The lesson begins with a recap of previous learning and a discussion aimed at distinguishing the duration of different time units. Key vocabulary such as 'midday', 'midnight', 'second', 'minute', 'hour', and phrases like 'morning', 'afternoon', 'evening', 'before', and 'after' are introduced. Students are encouraged to use these terms in sentences during partner talks, enhancing their understanding of time-related words.

The practical part of the lesson includes a variety of activities where children use a stopwatch to measure how long they can perform certain tasks within 20 seconds, such as star jumps or building a tower. This hands-on approach helps them grasp the concept of seconds. Working in small groups, they also discuss and decide the appropriate time unit to measure different activities. During the independent learning phase, children fill in worksheets and participate in reasoning activities, which are then reviewed in the plenary. The lesson aims to address common misconceptions about the passage of time and reinforce the number of seconds in a minute and the number of minutes in an hour. To assess their understanding, children are asked to reflect on what they have learned and to promise to remember how to measure duration using the different units of time. Differentiated activities are provided to cater to varying levels of proficiency, from those working towards the expected level to those capable of greater depth understanding.