Look at the clock above. What time does it say? How can you tell?

Now we will read three more times together. Watch each clock face and listen for which detail tells you the hour and which detail tells you the minutes past.

3:15 (quarter past three)

The minute hand points at the 3 of the face. Three fives counted from the 12 makes fifteen minutes past the hour. The hour hand has only just crossed the 3 and barely moved.

7:53 (almost eight)

This is the trickiest read. The minute hand sits just before the 11 of the face, at fifty-three minutes past. But look at the hour hand: it is so close to the 8 that a quick glance might trick you into saying eight o'clock. It is not eight yet. The minute hand has not reached the 12.

12:01 (one minute past noon)

The minute hand has only just left the 12. The hour hand still points at the 12 too. Both hands look almost the same, but only one minute has passed.

Now we set times on the clock together. The teacher will call a time like 'twenty past four' or 'five to nine', and one pupil will come up to drag the hour and minute hands into place.

The watching class has a job too. Before each pupil drags the minute hand, think where it should land. Then the teacher will ask one named pupil where the hour hand should sit — between which two numbers — before the pupil at the board moves it.