Telling Time through Digital Devices and Photo Story Telling in the Classroom

OBJECTIVES:
To engage learners physically and mentally and help them develop the following time telling skills through an array of digital devices and human interactions:
• Telling time to the quarter hour, half hour and hour on analog and digital clocks.
• Identifying the elements of a clock and its functions
• Sequencing and distinguishing key times and events of each day.
• Ordering and reading the days of the week and months of the year.
• Reading and ordering numbers to 60 so they can read time on a digital clock.
• Understanding halves and fourths as time is often read in fractional terms on an analog clock.

LESSON(s) on TIME TELLING (using the 5 E’s Template):
Engagement:
Show students an analog clock. Give each student their very own wooden clock to explore. Ask them how many big numbers are on the clock? Have students point to the hour hand. Tell them that when the hour hand moves from one number to the next, one hour has passed. Ask students what they can you do in an hour?
Have students point to the minute hand. Tell them that when the minute hand moves from one tick mark to the next, one minute has passed. Ask them what they can you do in a minute?

Exploration:
How can you tell what time it is? Have students work in groups of 2 or 3 and explore the many ways and share with their peers. Ex. the position of the sun in the sky, the length of shadows, the activities people are doing, and clocks and watches.

Explanation:
Create a teacher created PowerPoint using the Clip Art Station Site License and facilitate a discussion on different timepieces (clock, watch, phone/iPod, timer, sundial, hourglass) . Discuss the energy sources required to use these timepieces (electricity, battery, sun, wind-up movements).

Extensions/Activities:
1. Have each student create their own paper plate clock face using a brad fastener and construction paper hands. Use one 2 different colors for the hour and minute hands. These clocks can then be used repeatedly in several activities to reinforce learning and telling time. For example, as the teacher calls out or writes a time on the board, the students in turn show the correct time on their clocks.

2. Create a huge circle on the floor using tape to create a clock. Have 12 students sit around the clock. Give each of the 12 children a time card (with a different time written on each) to hold. The other students will take turns lying in the center of the clock to use their bodies to tell the time given on a time card. Students will use their upper torso as the hour hand and their lower torso as the minute hand on the clock. Students can use Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera/tablet to record still photos and/or video of this activity to use in their culminating project on telling time. (see Evaluation below).

3. Divide the classroom into 2 teams. Each team will send a representative up to compete with the opposing team’s rep. When the teacher calls a time, the first person to correctly display his/her team’s clock will gain a point for his/her team. The teacher will keep score on the board and the first Team to reach a certain number of preset wins will win the game.

4. Challenge the students to guess how long 1 minute is. Have them close their eyes and lay down their heads while you watch the clock. Have each student stand up quietly and look at the clock when he or she thinks 1 minute is up. Ring a bell/buzzer when the minute is up. Then have the students watch as the second hand goes around the clock once. Challenge them to try again to guess when the minute is up.

5. Small groups/flexible groups: Create 3 groups of students. Have the groups work on 3 different activities at one time. Ex. Group 1 will work on activity#1 above, Group 2 will work on activity#2 above and group 3 will work on the classroom PCs using Tool Factory's Autism Bundle / What's the Time Mr. Wolf. Students can work with their groups in 20-30 minute increments and rotate to a different activity every 20-30 minutes until all students have had a chance to complete each activity.

Evaluation:
1. Have students survey their homes and count the number of timepieces they find. Have students present their findings through different means such as a graph, a chart or poster that reflects their findings.

2. Students will work in groups of 4 or 5 to publish a digital book about telling time. Students will use photos, drawings, and videos to create a movie or digital story using Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera/tablet and the Clip Art Station Site License. Students will be provided with a rubric of what time elements to include in their digital book.