Hey guys!!! How is everyone doing?? Well, I'm sooooooo, I mean sooooooo excited to tell you all about my new
TIME Unit filled with 190 pages of jam packed, ORIGINAL, fun and learning!!! You'll find TEACHING IDEAS, PHOTOS, ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS, TEACHER DIRECTIONS, MATERIALS, PRE AND POST TESTS, 10 DIFFERENTIATED CENTERS, ANSWER KEYS, RESPONSE KEYS, DIRECTION CARDS FOR STUDENTS, AND MUCH MORE!!! This UNIT was made to reach a wide range of academic levels with so many ways to differentiate already made and ready to go!!! My 2nd graders have been working hard on getting stronger with time by using all of these new activities! So here's a little bit about it! :) OHH, don't forget to read all the way through!! ;)
The whole idea to do a unit on time had first to do with our 36 minutes extended days that are covering our snow days. The great part is we won't have to make them up at the end of the year. It is a pretty long day, but I actually really enjoy those last 36 minutes!! It's nice to just be able to teach for that time! No evaluations, no set requirements, just what's best for your kids! AND...every day for the past 2 weeks, at least one student of mine has commented on how much fun they are having! :) I have to say that makes my heart melt and gives me chills! It's so nice to hear those words!
Back to the time! My kids this year and previous years have always seemed to struggle with the concept of time. Heck, I think many of us struggle with that sometimes too! haha Not necessarily telling the time, but time in general. I may be one of those people who are late if I can be. :) I really try not to be, but I seem to always get tons of things done right before I need to leave! I work best under pressure! ;) ANYWAY...I wanted to break down time so we could build it back up with a solid foundation! I don't want my kids just memorizing and not completely understanding. SO...this is how my unit came alive!
The first thing I did was look in our Everyday Math book and standards to make sure I knew the key elements of time needed to be mastered, exposed, etc. I looked at K-3 standards, but K doesn't have a time standard. However, there are several centers and activities they could do too. From this, I created a Pre and Post Test to assess their knowledge at the beginning and end of the unit.
Answer Keys are included.
Next, I tried to think of when my kids struggle and what they do at those times.
Hand Confusion!!!
How many of you have kids who ONLY use the hours to tell the time meaning 1:15 is 1:3 or 1:30. Some of my kids want to use the numbers they see for both. So we started out the unit with all things to do with hour hands and minute hands. We used hand cutouts where we added the times that each "talked" to along with BrainPop Jr. to talk about the parts of the clock (mostly review for my 2nd graders). We did a chant, used a hula hoop, pretzel sticks and hours and minutes!
Once we learned all about the clock and hands (all ideas and printables are included in the set), we moved into a few of the centers that directly went with those concepts along with understanding time as in schedules and the dates. Some of my kids have a very hard time writing and/or saying the date. So in the beginning of this unit, I introduce these centers in accordance with the centers having to do with the hands on the clock.
My
Hand Confusion!!! center in the picture above is a FREEBIE in my TPT store to give you a little taste of the unit!!! It's one of my favorites!!! Click
HERE to download it now! :)
These centers cover all the foundational parts to telling time. The In a New York Minute! is a game that addressed just the minute hand to get them to do this routinely without troubles! The times for that center are to the 5 minutes. I've always noticed that the counting by 5s around the clock isn't the hard part. It's doing it when they have to look at both hands. So the intent was to have both hands on there but to isolate what they were looking for to practice this mistake they make often. :) There are 2 levels where one set has the flower petals with the 5 minute intervals shown for extra guidance. The 2nd level has clocks without this so your students who don't need as much guidance can use those. It's fast paced so it was winner from the beginning! hah The greatest part about all of these centers is that the materials can be used for several different things such as a Write the Room, flashcard type style, or simply using them to teach different times with. The options go on and on!!!
Fractional Times, Time Relationships, Elapsed Time
After practicing and playing with these centers, we moved into fractional times on the clock. Since 1st and 2nd graders both have to be able to tell to the hour and half hour plus in 2nd the quarters and 5 minutes, I wanted to really work on this concept. We just finished fractions so this blended perfectly!!
For my class this year, I needed to do a day or two for each fractional part. I waited to add the "quarter to" time for when I felt the individual groups were ready for it so it didn't confuse them. This way I could move at their pace so if a group was ready quickly, I pulled them in a small group while the others were working on the centers to teach the "quarter to" concept.
After all of the teaching lessons are complete, we put ALL of the centers to use!!! Then during center times, I can start pulling small groups of students or individual students to work on specific areas if I see they need it.
(Every page is not showing since it's 190 pages...Didn't want to bore you! :)
Thanks so much for stopping by and learning more about my TIME Unit!!!
