L6 O’Clock

Introduce your Year 1 pupils to telling the time to the hour with this fun, practical, and song-based Working Without Worksheets lesson. Using familiar routines and interactive clock work, children will learn to read, make, and describe o’clock times confidently. The lesson begins with a whole-class discussion to activate prior knowledge. Pupils talk about when they wake up, eat lunch, or go to bed, and start to connect specific times with daily events. The teacher introduces the term o’clock and a catchy time song (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star ) to reinforce the concept of time to the hour in a memorable, rhythmic way. During the introduction, the teacher demonstrates how to read an analogue clock. Pupils learn that the hour hand is the short hand and the minute hand is the long hand. Using teaching slides, the teacher models how the minute hand pointing to 12 means it is an o’clock time. The hour hand shows the current hour — for example, when the short hand points to 2, the time is 2 o’clock. Children use mini clocks to make times shown on the board, checking their answers and developing fluency through repetition and practical manipulation. In the activity, pupils work with partners to consolidate their understanding. Task 1: Children use the resource sheet to select and make o’clock times, taking turns to be the teacher and the learner. Task 2: Pupils play What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? — a fun, active way to practise telling and reading o’clock times aloud using their own clocks. The plenary brings learning to life as children connect times with real-world routines. They match times to familiar activities (like lunchtime or bedtime) and hold up their clocks to show each time. This interactive review allows for informal assessment of their ability to read and make o’clock times confidently. What’s Included in the Pack ✔ Full lesson plan with objectives, teaching notes, and key questions ✔ Animated teaching slides introducing clock hands and o’clock