New
New
Year 2

Tell and write the time to five minutes past and to on a clock face

I can tell and write the time to five minutes ‘past’ and ‘to’ on a clock face.

New
New
Year 2

Tell and write the time to five minutes past and to on a clock face

I can tell and write the time to five minutes ‘past’ and ‘to’ on a clock face.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. When telling and writing the time to five minutes past and to on a clock face, both the hour and minute hand are used.
  2. When we go past the half hour, we often say how many minutes to the next hour.
  3. We can use how many minutes 'past' to help us say how many minutes 'to'.

Common misconception

The 10 on a clock is unusual as when the minute hand is pointing to 10, it is 10 minutes to the next hour. Pupils may overgeneralise, thinking, for example, when it points to 9, it is 9 minutes to.

As with many mathematical ideas, regular exploration and practise outside of the lesson is key to truly understanding them. Take frequent opportunities to count in five-minute intervals on a clock using minutes past and minutes to.

Keywords

  • Hour - A unit of time equal to one of 24 equal parts of the day. An hour is equal to 60 minutes.

  • Minute - A unit of time equal to 60 seconds. There are 60 minutes in an hour.

  • Minutes past - The number of minutes that have gone past the hour (up to 30 minutes past).

  • Minutes to - The number of minutes there are to the next hour (after 30 minutes past).

Time is a particularly tricky concept for pupils to grasp. Take the time you need exploring the ideas in this lesson and unit. If you feel children need multiple lessons to gain an understanding of minutes past and to, spread the content. As with all lessons, this is both flexible and adaptable.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Loading...

6 Questions

Q1.
Look at the number line. Is a closer to 2 or closer to 3?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: 2
3
Q2.
When it is half past the hour, to which number does the minute hand point?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 6, six
Q3.
When it is half past 8, where should the hour hand be pointing?
An image in a quiz
At the number 8
At the number 9
Correct answer: Halfway between 8 and 9
Q4.
What time is being shown here?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: 45 minutes past 1
9 minutes past 2
10 minutes past 9
Q5.
Complete the sequence: 30, 25, 20,
Correct Answer: 15, fifteen
Q6.
Match the number pairs that make 60
Correct Answer:35,25

25

Correct Answer:10,50

50

Correct Answer:40,20

20

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the letters is exactly halfway between 1 and 2 on the number line?
An image in a quiz
a
Correct answer: b
c
d
Q2.
What does it mean when the hour hand is pointing exactly halfway between two hour numbers?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: It is half past.
Correct answer: It is 30 minutes past.
It is 15 minutes past.
It is an o’clock time.
Q3.
Complete the stem sentence: If it is 40 minutes past the hour, it is ___ minutes to the next hour.
An image in a quiz
4
Correct answer: 20
40
Q4.
How many minutes are there until the next hour?
An image in a quiz
3
Correct answer: 15
45
Q5.
The clock is showing 55 minutes past, or minutes to.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 5, five
Q6.
The clock is showing minutes to the next hour.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 25, twenty-five

Additional material

Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.