As an educator, tackling the subject of elapsed time can be challenging. While it is a critical skill that students must master, it can be difficult to teach in an engaging and meaningful way. Fortunately, there are plenty of elapsed time activities that can make the learning process more fun and interactive. These 20 activities are designed to help learners develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills while also improving their time management and time-telling abilities.
1. Elapsed Time Number Lines
Use this awesome math resource to teach your students about time intervals. Students will create life-size number lines to determine the duration of each section before recording their answers on the worksheet provided.
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2. Practice Calculating Elapsed Time
These free elapsed time resources are a great way for students to practice solving practical problems by calculating the duration of time. They will provide your students with a lot of hands-on practice and help them make connections between the concept of time duration with real-world applications.
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3. Ice Cream Elapsed Time
You scream I scream, we all scream for ice cream! You will love these elapsed time task cards that help students practice time measurement by reading clocks and recording their answers. They make a great addition to a classroom Math center and can be used for independent or small-group practice.
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4. Digital Elapsed Time Practice
These critical thinking questions and story problems will help prepare your students to become pros at telling time. They feature real-world concepts and lengthier, multi-step sentences, which provide more challenging practice for advanced learners.
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5. Elapsed Time Resource Bundle
Between deeper-level thinking questions, practice sheets, and task cards, this resource has it all! Practicing telling time in different ways is an important part of helping to reinforce this tricky concept and this diverse bundle makes for a great starting point.
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6. Practice Elapsed Time with Clocks
This website is full of useful activities for students to practice converting minutes into hours, and hours into minutes. It also provides practice with pairing the matching clock to the correct time.
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7. Time Boom Cards
BOOM cards make for a dynamic way to get students active and involved in their learning. With these digital cards, students will match time with the correct clock, answer question cards, and practice measuring time in different increments.
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8. Elapsed Time Word Problems
Using the word problem question cards as well as a recording sheet, students will have plenty of fun practicing their time-telling skills.
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9. Differentiated Teaching Options
This website is full of practical tips on how to differentiate teaching of elapsed time. It features concepts divided into different levels of difficulty, allowing you to tailor your teaching to all learners.
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10. Scaffolded Time Task Cards
Task cards were always so popular in my classroom! The students love moving around the room and solving different problems. Simply print the task cards, place them around your classroom, and give students a recording sheet for their answers.
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11. Time Worksheets – Task Cards
This resource includes task cards to go right along with your in-class time lesson. Your students will practice their time-telling skills by answering deeper-level thinking questions.
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12. I Have Who Has Cards
Playing ‘I Have, Who Has’ with time task cards makes for a perfect small-group math activity. The student with the first card asks ‘who has’ and the student with the correct answer replies ‘I have’ and so and so forth until all task cards have been read aloud. It’s a fun and dynamic way to get kids excited about their learning!
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13. Write the Room
This write-the-room activity helps to make a tricky concept fun to learn and practice! Students will work together while circulating around the classroom to answer complex questions about elapsed time.
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14. Elapsed Time Printables
This resource offers free printables that allow students to calculate starting and ending times. The relevant scenarios help make their learning practical and meaningful while providing for plenty of time calculation practice.
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15. Ideas and Activities
This resource not only provides some great teaching strategies, but it also includes ideas for students to practice their elapsed time telling. Students will practice reading different types of clocks and calculating time.
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16. Word Problem Elapsed Time Practice
Many students feel intimidated when solving word problems, especially those that include more than one step. With this resource, you can help equip them with the tools and mindset necessary to successfully tackle time-telling word problems.
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17. Interactive Powerpoint Game
An activity that engages the whole class and makes learning into a game? We are in! This resource is a PowerPoint game you can use with your class to assess their elapsed time-telling skills. Just project this resource on the TV or Smartboard and you are ready for some learning fun!
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18. Practice Worksheet
Are you looking for a challenge for your fast finishers? Something to help them stay engaged, but also practice the skills they are learning? These supplemental worksheets are perfect for fast finishers that want more opportunities to practice their learning.
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19. How Long Ago Task Cards
If you haven’t gotten the hint already, we love task cards! They are the perfect blend between whole class engagement, small group collaboration, and physical learning in the classroom. There are so many options when it comes to implementing task cards in your classroom. Try these today and see what your students like best.
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20. 5 Elapsed Time Teaching Ideas
This resource gives great ideas to teach elapsed time, such as time races. In a timed race, your students will time each other to see how long an action (such as jumping) takes before solving the accompanying word problem. It’s a great option for helping kids connect their classroom learning with practical, real-world applications.
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