Time - O'clock and half past - Planning

The Year 3 summer curriculum for teaching time focuses on the fundamental concepts of o'clock and half past. The National Curriculum objectives include understanding the number of seconds in a minute, days in a month, and the differences between a regular year and a leap year. Key vocabulary such as 'analogue', 'digital', 'noon', and 'midnight' are introduced, and students learn to tell the time to the nearest minute and comprehend the terms 'am' and 'pm'. The lesson utilises resources like mini clocks with moveable hands, worksheets, and presentations to facilitate learning. The lesson begins with a starter activity that prompts students to recall where the minute hand points at o'clock times, using arm movements to represent the positions of the hands on the clock face.

During the class teaching input, students engage with an interactive clock to identify o'clock and half past times, understanding that the minute hand's position indicates these specific times. They explore the concept of fractions by relating 'half past' to the clock being divided into two equal parts. The lesson progresses with practical activities where students use mini clocks to create various o'clock and half past times, paying close attention to the position of the hour hand as well. The plenary includes an 'Odd One Out' game to reinforce the day's learning, with reasoning questions and independent activities provided on differentiated worksheets to cater to different learning levels. The lesson aims to ensure that students can confidently read and write the time at o'clock and half past, recognise the hour and minute hands, and understand the incremental movement of the hour hand through each hour.