L3 Minutes in an Hour

This Year 2 Working Without Worksheets lesson helps children understand that one hour equals 60 minutes, building a solid foundation for reading time to the nearest 5 minutes and understanding time intervals. The lesson begins with a whole-class discussion, asking: “What can you do in an hour?” Children share examples of activities that take about an hour and use whiteboards to decide whether different tasks take more or less than an hour. This encourages practical thinking and discussion about time in everyday contexts. During the main teaching input, pupils learn how the minute hand moves around the clock and that each number represents 5 minutes. They count in 5s as the teacher models the minute hand’s movement: 15 minutes = quarter of an hour 30 minutes = half an hour 45 minutes = three-quarters of an hour 60 minutes = one whole hour Children begin to understand that when the minute hand returns to the top (12), a full hour has passed. This visual and interactive demonstration helps them connect movement around the clock to elapsed time. In the main activity, children complete two tasks: Task 1: Complete sentences about time in their maths books (e.g., “There are ___ minutes in one hour”). Task 2: Work with a partner to answer practical time questions, recording their answers collaboratively. The plenary brings the learning together by discussing answers and tackling a real-life problem about a bike ride, encouraging reasoning and verbal explanation of elapsed time. This lesson blends practical reasoning, partner discussion, and visual learning — all designed to help children feel what an hour means and understand how 60 minutes make up one full revolution of the clock. What’s Included in the Pack ✔ Full lesson plan with objectives, discussion prompts, and key questions ✔ Animated teaching slides modelling how the minute hand moves around the clock ✔ Starter: “More or less than an hour?” whole-class discussion and whiteboard activity ✔ Teaching input: Counting i