What time is it?

Hi everyone!

The teaching of the time and its measurement is an important aspect that should be covered well at shools because it is something that students are going to need and use for all their life. People are all the time measuring things in their lives, but the measuring to the time has the most applicability and use. We create our life into a conjunction of actions that we develop along the day. Therefore, the knowledge of the time is something that helps us to organize our life. Besides, for students, it will have an implication also y their efficiency and organization of their homework.

 

The learning of the time in a clock is long, it is needed to respect the evolution of each student. Some will get it concept before than others but it is normal. Firstly, they will have to understand the concept of the time, what is it a day, a week, an hour. Secondly, they will be getting familiar with the element of the watch and as the main instrument to measure the time. They should learn about different types of instrument that we use to measuring the time as well as different types of clocks. Finally, they will be introduced to the unit of measurement and its transformations.

Since they are young, the familiarization of it will be crucial. To do it, it is essential to let them build their own clock and foster its manipulation. The watch should be included in their environment of children and for it, routines are very helpful. 

For the learning of the time, it introductions in all subjects possible will be crucial. For example, it the subject of Physical Education they can make races or games in which they have to control and measure the time. By this way the diversity of dynamics, resources and ways of present it will be foster the acquisition of this knowledge. 

To begin teaching the time to younger learners, we can use stories like the tale ¿Qué hora es, Perico? written by Beatrix Potter or El tiempo (gira- gira) written by Anne-Sophie Baumann. Both are stories that present the concept of the time to the youngest learners. They have movable hands that allow children to move and play with them. They can be good resources because they allow us to introduce it in a different way to the diversity of activities is ensured. Besides, as they can be protagonist in the tale they will be motivated and engaged.

  

Also, it is interesting to use songs that are motivated and foster the development of other skills. The following song is an example that is easy for them to sing it and become aware of the time and the use of the clock. Besides, it could be interesting because we can practice other subjects as Foreign Language (English) and the words can be related to a movement so it is easier for them to remember.

The cartoons are also a good way of introducing the time. In the following video, you will get an example that it has been designed for the first cycle. The characters are animals that have the same life as children. One day they get a birthday celebration but they have a problem, they don't know how to read the clock! in the episode, they will try to understand its mechanisms. There are fifteen minutes in which they will get familiar with it, but they won't get boring because it is not too long.

From the second cycle children start to learn the unit of measurement. It is something more complex than the reading of the clock. It takes a long time to get used to and for this reason practically until they finish the primary education they have to add new knowledge but also review the previous knowledge.

Usually, these concepts are presented into problems that they have to solve individually. They are boring for children and a lot of them are not ready for them. I think problems, in general, hasn't been well implemented in schools because it seems that nobody likes it and they are not prepared to them. Problems are important to develop the skills to face these situations and develop critical thinking However, it should be implemented in class in other ways.

The use of other methodologies as cooperative learning, the problem-based learning or the gamification can be interesting and I am sure it will get the attention of students. In the case of the time problems, it could be presented into problem-based learning in which they have to work in groups to solve a problem, searching and manipulating the time in several ways.

Finally, I want to share with you a webpage that I have found and could be interesting to inspire you and create fantastic activities.

La hora, los minutos y los segundos is a didactic proposal in which students will deal with the units of measurement of the time in an interesting way. In my opinion, it could be interesting to review the topic.