Telling Time Lesson Plan for Special Education: Hour and Half Hour
A functional math lesson where students read an analog clock at the hour and half hour and match it to a digital card, with hours and half hours scored separately.
- Math
- Ages 8-12
- Group of 4
- 45 minutes
- Free printable PDF
Page 1 of 2. Page 2 is the data sheet.
What’s inside this plan
Objective: Students will read an analog clock set to the hour and the half hour and match it to the matching digital time card.
The goal it serves: Given an analog clock set to the hour or half hour, the student will read the time aloud and match it to the matching digital card with 80% accuracy in 4 of 5 sessions.
- 6 min Warm-Up
- 10 min Direct Instruction & Modeling
- 14 min Guided Practice
- 11 min Independent Practice
- 4 min Closure
Supports on the table: Task Analysis, Visual Schedule, Errorless Learning, Timers, Positive Reinforcement. Differentiated three ways (more support, on level, more challenge), with accommodations and a per-student data sheet at an 80% accuracy target.
Frequently asked questions
- What does short hand first mean in this telling time lesson plan?
- The short hand names the hour and gets read before the long hand, every time. Students who learn the hands in the other order tend to read 3:30 as 4:30, because the short hand has already moved past the 3.
- Should students learn hours and half hours together?
- Teach hours first, then introduce the half hour by moving only the long hand so the hour visibly stays the same. The plan mixes them in practice on purpose, since a student who only ever sees one at a time never has to decide between them.
- Is this lesson for digital or analog clocks?
- Both, and the matching is the point. The student reads the analog clock and finds the digital card that says the same thing, which is the skill that transfers to a phone, an oven, and the classroom wall.
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