Time Games for 3rd Graders

Overview of Grade 3

The math for third grade math focuses on 4 critical areas:

1. Developing an understanding of multiplication and division: The addition skills taught in grade 2, helps kids to understand the meaning of multiplication. They understand multiplication problem as a problem to find the unknown product. They understand division as a problem to find unknown group size or an unknown number of groups. The kids learn this through activities involving arrays and area models. The kids use properties of multiplication and division for problem-solving. The kids also understand the relationship between multiplication and division.
2. Developing an understanding of fractions: The kids extend their grade 2 understanding of equal shares to understand fractions as equal parts of a whole. They partition concrete models, pictorial models, or fraction strips into equal parts. They identify equal shaded parts as 1 half, 1 third, 1 fourth etc. This forms the base for understanding unit fractions. The kids shift their understanding of fractions on the number line. They also learn about equivalent fractions. For example, 1/2, 2/4 and 4/8 are equivalent fractions. They also learn to compare the unit fractions.
3. Developing an understanding of Rectangular arrays and areas: The kids recognize the area as an attribute of plane figures. They understand concepts of area measurement and measure areas by counting unit squares. They also relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition. They learn to find the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths.
4. Analyzing two-dimensional shapes: The kids understand that shapes in different categories can have same attributes. For example, rectangle and rhombus each have 4 sides. They recognize rectangle, square, rhombus as a quadrilateral. The kids also relate their understanding of fraction to geometry. They determine the area of a part of a shape by expressing it in terms of the fraction of a whole.

Overview of Telling Time

The skill of telling time involves reading and writing time on an analog and digital clock. The kids start learning this skill in grade 1 and gradually develop fluency by the end of grade 3. They begin by relating a circle partitioned in 12 parts by an analog clock. They learn about the rotation of hour and minute hands.

They then develop an understanding of the number of minutes in an hour. They understand the vocabulary associated with time. For example, half past 6, quarter to 6 and quarter past 6. They first learn to tell time to the hour and to the half hour. They then learn to tell time to quarter past and quarter to. They also learn to relate a.m. and p.m. to the time of the days. They also learn to read time to nearest 5 minutes and nearest 1 minute on a number line.  The kids also use subtraction skills to solve problems based on elapsed time. Once the kids get a good grasp over the topic, they no longer need time calculator hours to tool to manage their daily routine.

Skills required for understanding formula for time

Understanding the concept of time involves using many smaller skill sets earlier learned.  

• The skill to skip count by fives enables kids to understand the 5 minutes interval between each digit on the clock.
• The skills to add and subtract on a number line let kids read time to nearest 5 minutes and 1 minute within an interval of an hour.

Thus, learning the concept of time enables kids to masters the skills learned earlier.

 Learn to Tell Time through Time Games

Telling time is an important skill to be learned in early childhood. It can be tricky to learn the concept of time. A balanced mix of fun and fact can make learning time easier. These days many websites offer telling time games. The skills to read and write time require practice. This skill can be developed while playing time games. This keeps the kids engaged and makes learning interesting.

There are learning games that focus only on time. Such educational games let kids read time on the online analog clock and interactive clock. This helps kids get fluent with measurement of time. The kids can also practice telling time worksheet online.

Progression of Topic Time with Grades

Grade 1: The kids’ relate their understanding of partitioning circles to an analog time clock. They see an analog clock as a circle partitioned into 12 equal parts. They learn about the hour hand and minute hand. They are able to tell time to the hour and to the half hour on an analog time clock and digital clock. The kids’ get familiar with the vocabulary like 3 o’ clock and half past 3. They also are able to discriminate between time to the hour and time to the half hour. They learn about the position of a minute and hour hand.

Grade 2: The kids’ understanding of partitioning the circle into halves and quarters help them understand the concept of quarter hours. They understand that an analog time clock can be divided into four equal quarters. They learn about the terminologies like half past 9, quarter to 9, quarter past 9 etc. The kids use skip-counting to count by fives. They relate 60 minutes to 1 hour, 30 minutes to a half hour and 15 minutes to a quarter hour. For example, they relate half past 4 with 4:30, 4:15 with quarter past 4 and 4:45 with a quarter to 5. They relate numbers on the face of the clock with the intervals of 5 and use this understanding to tell time to the nearest 5 minutes. The kids also learn about a.m. and p.m. They also solve problems based on elapsed time using their subtraction skills.

Grade 3: The kids learn to tell time to the nearest minute on analog and digital clocks. They use number line as a tool to count minutes within an hour. The kids use both clock and a number line to solve telling time worksheets involving addition and subtraction of intervals of minutes.

Grade 4: The kids use four operations to solve word problems involving intervals of time. These problems also involve conversions. They are expected to convert minutes to hours or vice versa to solve problems.

Counting time on number line

• Introducing seconds: The kids learn that time is a continuous measurement. The time never stops, it is always moving. They learn about seconds as a measurement unit of time. The need to understand time in seconds is taught through online timer for kids. The kids are able to solve time and seconds worksheets that have questions like:

• Write your name 10 times on a sheet of paper. Use a stopwatch to record the number of seconds it took.
• How many jumping jacks can you do in 40 seconds?

•  Telling time to nearest 5 minutes by counting on the number line:  The kids extend their understanding of reading time to nearest 5 minutes learned in grade 2. They learn to read time to the nearest 5 minutes on a number line. This understanding serves as the foundation for developing a concept for reading time to the nearest minute. The kids count by 5 minutes to the hour, the half hour, and the quarter hour. The kids are able to solve clock worksheets that have questions like:

• The number line below shows the 5 minute intervals between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. It shows the time at which Rachael starts and ends cooking.

Answer the following questions.

1. At what time Rachael starts cooking?
2. At what time Rachael ends cooking?

• Telling time to nearest minute by counting on the number line:  The kids count by fives and ones to tell time on a number line. They draw 5 minutes intervals of an hour and draw 1 minute intervals within those 5 minutes. The kids practice counting backward and forward using a number line to solve problems. They then relate counting time on the number line to reading time on an analog clock. The kids are able to solve clock worksheets that have questions like:

• The number line below shows the 5 minute intervals between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. It shows the time at which Jack starts and ends reading.

For how many minutes did Jack read the book?

• Solve word problems by adding and subtracting on the number line: The kids are expected to solve word problems involving time intervals within 1 hour on the number line. They use the skills to move forward and backward to add and subtract on a number line. The kids are able to solve clock worksheets that have questions like:
• Noah walks for 22 minutes to reach her school. Betty walks for 15 minutes to reach her school. How many more minutes Noah walk than Betty?
• Ben leaves for office at 9:12 a.m. He reaches office at 9:48 a.m. How much time Ben takes to reach his office?