How do you teach telling time to the nearest 5 minutes?

Make sure your child can count by 5s to 60 first. Then show that the long hand moves 5 minutes for each number, and count round the clock together until it becomes quick.

What grade learns telling time?

In the US, grade 1 covers hours and half hours, grade 2 the nearest five minutes with a.m. and p.m., and grade 3 the nearest minute and elapsed time. In England, o'clock and half past come in Year 1, five minutes in Year 2 and the nearest minute in Year 3.

How do you find elapsed time?

Jump from the start time to the next o'clock, then count whole hours, then the minutes left, and add the jumps. From 2:50 to 4:20 is 10 minutes + 1 hour + 20 minutes, which is 1 hour 30 minutes.

What does quarter to mean?

Quarter to means 15 minutes before the next hour. So quarter to 4 is 3:45, because 60 − 15 = 45.

Why is the hour hand between two numbers?

The hour hand moves slowly all through the hour. At half past it is halfway between two numbers. Always read the number it has just passed.

Is there a free telling time worksheet with answers?

Yes. Use the Print a worksheet button on this page. Each worksheet is freshly made, and the answer key can show answers only or answers with worked steps.

Grades 1 to 3 (Years 2 to 4 in England)

Telling time: reading a clock to 5 minutes

Here is how to read an analog clock step by step: the hour hand first, then the minutes in fives. There is a worked example, a section on elapsed time and a free practice set below, and you can print a fresh telling time worksheet with an answer key.

The method, step by step

Find the short hour hand and read the last number it has passed: that is the hour.
Find the long minute hand and see which number it points to.
Count by 5s from the 12 to the minute hand, 5 minutes for each number.
Write the hour, a colon, then the minutes with two digits, so 7:05 and not 7:5.
Check that it makes sense: just before the next hour, the hour hand should be almost on the next number.

CCSS 1.MD.B.3CCSS 2.MD.C.7CCSS 3.MD.A.1England: Y1 MeasurementEngland: Y2 MeasurementEngland: Y3 MeasurementEngland: Y4 Measurement

Worked example

The hour hand is between 4 and 5. The minute hand points at 7. What time is it?

The hour hand has passed 4 but has not reached 5, so the hour is 4.
The minute hand points at 7.
Count by 5s from the 12: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35. That is 35 minutes.
Write the hour, then the minutes: 4:35.
In words, 4:35 is thirty-five minutes past 4, or twenty-five minutes to 5, because 60 − 35 = 25.

Practice now

Question 1 of 100 correct

Write "twenty to 11" as a digital time, like 4:35.

Print a worksheet with answers Share to Google ClassroomFree, no sign-up. Nothing you type is saved.

Print and play

Free printables, made fresh each time you open one. Print as many as you like, or do them on a tablet or computer with a finger, stylus or mouse.

Practice worksheetFresh questions every time, with an answer key you can turn on or off.
Print free ✏️ Write on screen
Riddle puzzleSolve the questions to crack the code and answer a math joke.
Print free 👆 Play on screen
FlashcardsCut, fold and quiz: question on the front, answer on the back.
Print free 👆 Play on screen
Bingo gameFour different cards and a caller's list, for home or the whole class.
Print free

How an analog clock works

A clock face has 12 numbers and two hands. The short hand goes round once every 12 hours and shows the hour. The long hand goes round once every hour and shows the minutes. Because an hour has 60 minutes and 12 × 5 = 60, the long hand takes 5 minutes to move from one number to the next.

It helps to picture the minute track as a number line bent into a circle. It starts at 0 at the top, reaches 15 at the 3, 30 at the 6 and 45 at the 9, then arrives back at the 12 after 60 minutes, where it starts again. The small tick marks between the numbers are single minutes, four between each pair of numbers.

Telling time to the nearest 5 minutes

The hour hand causes most of the trouble, because it creeps forward all hour. At 8:50 it is almost on the 9, but it has not reached it, so the hour is still 8. Always read the number the hour hand has just passed. These examples get a little harder each time.

Long hand on 12, short hand on 3: it is 3:00, three o'clock.
Long hand on 6, short hand halfway between 9 and 10: it is 9:30, half past 9.
Long hand on 3, which is 15 minutes, short hand just past 11: it is 11:15, quarter past 11.
Long hand on 9, which is 45 minutes, short hand most of the way from 2 to 3: it is 2:45, quarter to 3.
Long hand on 10, short hand nearly on 8: count 5, 10, 15 up to 50, so it is 7:50, ten to 8.

Past and to: saying the time in words

While the long hand is on the right side of the clock, between the 12 and the 6, we say minutes past the hour. Once it passes the 6, we usually count the minutes left until the next hour instead. To find them, subtract from 60: 7:40 is 60 − 40 = 20 minutes to 8. You will also hear 7:40 read simply as seven forty, and some Americans say quarter of 8 or quarter till 8 for 7:45. The practice set uses past and to.

To read the time to the nearest minute, count by 5s up to the last number the long hand has passed, then count on the extra tick marks in 1s. If the long hand is 3 ticks past the 4, that is 20 + 3 = 23 minutes.

Elapsed time: how long, and what time will it be?

Elapsed time is the time that passes between a start and an end. The surest method is to jump along a time line: first to the next o'clock, then on in whole hours, then the minutes that are left. Add up the jumps at the end.

Finding the end time: a lesson starts at 3:40 and lasts 35 minutes. 3:40 + 20 minutes = 4:00, then 4:00 + 15 minutes = 4:15.
Finding how long: from 9:25 to 11:10 is 35 minutes to 10:00, 60 minutes to 11:00 and 10 more minutes to 11:10. 35 + 60 + 10 = 105 minutes, or 1 hour 45 minutes.
Working backward: a film ended at 6:15 and lasted 1 hour 30 minutes. Back 1 hour is 5:15, and back 30 more minutes is 4:45.

Don't subtract times as if they were ordinary numbers. Treating 11:10 − 9:25 as 1110 − 925 gives 185, which is wrong, because an hour has 60 minutes, not 100. Jumping to the next o'clock avoids the problem.

How it is taught in school

In the US, Common Core asks grade 1 to tell time in hours and half hours on analog and digital clocks (1.MD.B.3). Grade 2 moves to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m. (2.MD.C.7). Grade 3 reads time to the nearest minute and solves word problems about time intervals in minutes (3.MD.A.1).

In England, Year 1 pupils tell the time to the hour and half past the hour. Year 2 tell the time to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to, and learn the number of minutes in an hour and hours in a day. Year 3 read the time to the nearest minute, including clocks with Roman numerals from I to XII and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks, and Year 4 convert between analogue and digital times.

How parents can help

Put an analog clock where your child sees it every day, and ask the time at natural moments: breakfast, leaving for school, bedtime.
Say times both ways, such as 4:45 and quarter to 5. Hearing the two forms together joins them up.
Ask elapsed time questions about real plans: swimming starts at 10:30 and lasts 45 minutes, so when do we pick you up? (11:15.)
Draw a clock together and write 5, 10, 15 and so on outside each number. Most children only need this support for a short while.
Keep sessions short. Use the practice set below, or print a fresh worksheet and let your child mark it with the answer key.

Common mistakes

Reading the hour hand as the next number. At 8:50 the short hand is almost on 9 but has not reached it, so the hour is still 8.
Mixing up the hands and reading the long hand as the hour. The short hand is the hour hand.
Reading the number under the long hand as the minutes. The long hand on 4 means 20 minutes, not 4 minutes.
Writing 7:5 instead of 7:05. The minutes always have two digits.
Saying quarter to 7 for 7:45. Quarter to uses the next hour, so 7:45 is quarter to 8.
Subtracting times like normal numbers. From 9:25 to 11:10 is not 1 hour 85 minutes; count on in jumps instead to get 1 hour 45 minutes.

Questions people ask

How do you teach telling time to the nearest 5 minutes?: Make sure your child can count by 5s to 60 first. Then show that the long hand moves 5 minutes for each number, and count round the clock together until it becomes quick.
What grade learns telling time?: In the US, grade 1 covers hours and half hours, grade 2 the nearest five minutes with a.m. and p.m., and grade 3 the nearest minute and elapsed time. In England, o'clock and half past come in Year 1, five minutes in Year 2 and the nearest minute in Year 3.
How do you find elapsed time?: Jump from the start time to the next o'clock, then count whole hours, then the minutes left, and add the jumps. From 2:50 to 4:20 is 10 minutes + 1 hour + 20 minutes, which is 1 hour 30 minutes.
What does quarter to mean?: Quarter to means 15 minutes before the next hour. So quarter to 4 is 3:45, because 60 − 15 = 45.
Why is the hour hand between two numbers?: The hour hand moves slowly all through the hour. At half past it is halfway between two numbers. Always read the number it has just passed.
Is there a free telling time worksheet with answers?: Yes. Use the Print a worksheet button on this page. Each worksheet is freshly made, and the answer key can show answers only or answers with worked steps.

Updated November 1, 2026.

Keep exploring

Math, English and science that click.