My students need Judy Clocks with gears to understand how the hands on a clock work.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Javens's classroom raised $301
This project is fully funded
My Students
Do you remember how hard it was to learn to tell time? Now compound those struggles with the unrefined fine motor skills of a six-year-old and tiny clocks with tiny hands that stick when you want them to move and move when you want them to stick.
I have 23 brilliant students this year!
They have worked very hard and come a long way since August. We are now learning how to tell time. Though they can write the time shown on a clock on worksheets, when it comes to using clocks to show a given time they struggle. My students set the hour hand and then the minute hand moves. Then they try to fix the minute hand and then the hour hand moves. I am supposed to teach students to understand the concept of elapsed time on these clocks. Try moving the minute hand the whole way around to show one hour has passed and the hour hand has moved 6 hours. Not only can students not get the correct answer, but they also get a little confused about the way the hands of a clock actually work.
My Project
I am requesting two large clocks so that my assistant and I each have one to use for small group instruction. I am also requesting 24 student clocks with gears. The gears will allow my students to set the clock to a time, say 4 o'clock, and allow them to move the minute hand 30 minutes while the hour hand actually moves to be half way between the 4 and 5. With small hands-on clocks demonstrating how the hour and minute hands work, telling time will go beyond memorizing what number means 30 minutes and putting the hour hand wherever you want. These small clocks will show students just how the hour hand moves as the minute hand moves, giving them a deeper conceptual understanding of time.
Currently, if I ask students to show 4:30 on their small clocks, most put the hour hand right on the 4 and the minute hand on the 6.
I want my students to understand that 30 minutes is half past the hour, so the hour hand is half way to the next number. When it is 4:45, I want them to see how the hour hand is very close to the 5, but the hour is still 4. The clocks we have now are not adequate for teaching the concept of time, let alone elapsed time. Please help us understand time!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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