Tell time to the quarter hour, step by step
An analog clock asks a child to read two scales at once: hours around the face and minutes counted in groups of five.
The question
Read the clock
short hand:the hour
long hand:the minutes
past5→ hour is5
straight up:0 minutes
hour:5
minutes:00
5:00
- Two hands, and they are read on two different scales — so take them one at a time, short hand first.
- The short hand has passed the 5 and has not reached the 6, so the hour is 5. It does not sit exactly on a number, and it is not supposed to — it creeps along all hour.
- The long hand is straight up at the 12, which is zero minutes past — that is what makes it an o'clock.
- Hour 5, minutes 00 — 5:00.
How it works.
- 01
Two hands, and they are read on two different scales — so take them one at a time, short hand first.
- 02
The short hand has passed the 5 and has not reached the 6, so the hour is 5. It does not sit exactly on a number, and it is not supposed to — it creeps along all hour.
- 03
The long hand is straight up at the 12, which is zero minutes past — that is what makes it an o'clock.
- 04
Hour 5, minutes 00 — 5:00.