Telling time — introduction

In 1st grade you learned to read o'clock times (3:00, 5:00) and half past (3:30). In 2nd grade you go further — you'll learn quarter past / quarter to and every five-minute jump.

What the hands do

A clock has two hands:

Hour hand — shorter and fatter. Points at the hour (1–12).
Minute hand — longer and thinner. Points at the minutes (each jump = 5 minutes).

Clock anatomy — short hour hand, long minute hand

Both hands turn together in the same direction — always to the right, "clockwise".

What you already know (from 1st grade)

3:00 — o'clock. Minute hand on 12, hour hand on 3.
3:30 — half past. Minute hand on 6 (straight down), hour hand between 3 and 4.

What you'll learn now (in 2nd grade)

3:15 — quarter past three. Minute hand on 3.
3:45 — quarter to four. Minute hand on 9.
3:25 — twenty-five past three. Minute hand on 5.
3:50 — ten to four (fifty past three). Minute hand on 10.

See the trick? Every number on the clock face (1, 2, 3, ...) means 5 minutes. Just count in fives.

Words you'll use

O'clock — minute hand on 12 (3:00, 5:00).
Half past — minute hand on 6 (3:30, 5:30).
Quarter past / quarter to — minute hand on 3 (3:15) or on 9 (3:45).
Five-minute steps — minute hand on any other number.

Summary

The hour hand is short, the minute hand is long.
The number the minute hand points at, times 5, gives the minutes.
A 2nd-grader reads: o'clock, half, quarter, and five-minute times.