Year 1: Telling the time to half past the hour

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 5 and 6
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 5

Check. Half past 5 is halfway between 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 6 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 6 yet.

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 9 and 10
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 9

Check. Half past 9 is halfway between 9 o’clock and 10 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 10 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 10 yet.

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 1 and 2
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 1

Check. Half past 1 is halfway between 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 2 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 2 yet.

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 12 and 1
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 12

Check. Half past 12 is halfway between 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 1 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 1 yet.

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 10 and 11
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 10

Check. Half past 10 is halfway between 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 11 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 11 yet.

Key words. Half past means half an hour after the hour. When the long hand is on 6, it is half past.

Method. Look at the long hand first. Then look at the short hand.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It sits halfway between two numbers, so it is not on a number.
   Short hand between 7 and 8
3. Say the time. Say half past the number the short hand has just passed.
   half past 7

Check. Half past 7 is halfway between 7 o’clock and 8 o’clock. ✓

Watch out. Do not say 8 o’clock. The short hand has not reached 8 yet.

Method. An hour later, the short hand moves on to the next number.

1. Start at half past 3. Put your finger on the short hand.
   half past 3
2. Move the short hand on one number. The long hand stays where it is.
   3 + 1 = 4
3. Write the answer.
   half past 4

Check. One hour earlier than half past 4 is half past 3. ✓

Watch out. Only the short hand moves on. The long hand stays in the same place.

Method. Look at the long hand. Its place tells you which one it is.

1. Look at the long hand. It shows the minutes.
   Long hand on 12
2. Decide which time it is. On 12 it is o’clock. On 6 it is half past.
   On 12 means o’clock
3. Write the answer.
   o’clock

Check. Check the short hand is on a number (o’clock) or between two numbers (half past). ✓

Watch out. Look at the long hand first, not the short hand.

Method. Find the clock that shows half past 6. Check both hands.

1. Look at the short hand on each clock. The short hand shows the hour.
   The hour hand is between 6 and 7
2. Look at the long hand. The long hand shows the minutes: 6 for half past.
   Long hand on 6
3. Write the letter. Only one clock has both hands in the right place.
   Clock B

Check. The other clocks have the wrong hour or the wrong minutes. ✓

Watch out. Check both hands, not just one. The long hand alone can be on 6 for different hours.

Method. Check the clock, then compare it with what was said.

1. Look at the long hand. It shows the minutes.
   Long hand on 6
2. Look at the short hand. It shows the hour.
   Short hand between 4 and 5
3. Compare with what was said. The clock shows half past 4, not half past 3.
   No. It is half past 4.

Check. Read the clock again: the hour hand is at 4 and the long hand is on 6. ✓

Watch out. Check the short hand for the hour and the long hand for the minutes.

Method. Think about where the long hand is at half past.

1. Look at the long hand. When the long hand is on 6, 30 minutes have passed since the hour.
   Long hand on 6 = 30 minutes
2. Think about half an hour. Half of an hour is 30 minutes, so the time is half past the hour.
   Half an hour = half past
3. Write the answer.
   Yes. The long hand on 6 means it is half past the hour.

Check. Check on a clock: long hand on 6 always gives half past. ✓

Watch out. The long hand on 6 is always half past, whatever the hour is.