The minute hand on a clock is three tick marks past the 7. What is the minute count?
A7 minutes — the hand is near the 7
B35 minutes — skip-count to the 7: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35
C38 minutes — skip-count to the 7 (35), then count on 3 more
D37 minutes — the hand is between 35 and 40
The skip-counting scaffold gets you to 35 (the 7 on the clock face). Then you count individual tick marks: one past the 7 = 36, two past = 37, three past = 38. The method is always the same: skip-count by 5s to the last number the hand passed, then count individual marks from there. Option B stops at 35 but ignores the three extra ticks.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
The hour hand is between the 3 and the 4, closer to the 4. The minute hand points to the 10. What time is it?
A4:50 — the hour hand is close to the 4
B3:50 — the hour hand is between the 3 and the 4, so the hour is 3
C3:10 — the minute hand is near the 10, which means 10 minutes
D4:10 — the hour hand is almost on the 4
The hour hand shows *which hour you are in*, not which number it's nearest to. If it's anywhere between the 3 and the 4, the hour is 3 — you haven't yet reached 4 o'clock. The minute hand on the 10 means skip-count to 10: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50. The time is 3:50. When the hour hand looks close to the next number, it means you're near the end of that hour — not that the next hour has started.
Question 3 True / False
Most tick mark on a clock face represents 5 minutes, so you should count by 5s for most mark when reading time to the minute.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Each of the 60 tick marks represents exactly 1 minute. The twelve numbered positions on the clock each represent multiples of 5 (5, 10, 15... 60), which is why skip-counting by 5s works to get to those positions quickly. But between the numbers, every individual tick mark is 1 minute. The skill of telling time to the minute means counting each of those individual marks after your last five-minute skip.
Question 4 True / False
If the hour hand is anywhere between the 6 and the 7, the correct hour to read is 6.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
The hour hand moves continuously throughout the hour. Any position between two numbers means you are *in* the earlier hour — you haven't reached the next one yet. Between 6 and 7 means it's 6-something. Only when the hour hand is exactly on the 7 (at 7:00 precisely) does the hour become 7. This is especially important when the hour hand is very close to the next number — it still belongs to the earlier hour.
Question 5 Short Answer
Explain the two-step method for reading the minute hand when it falls between two numbers on the clock face.
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Step 1: Skip-count by 5s to the last numbered position the minute hand passed (e.g., if it's past the 4 but before the 5, count 5, 10, 15, 20). Step 2: Count individual tick marks from that number to where the hand actually points. Add those single minutes to the skip-count total.
This two-step method uses skip-counting as a scaffold and then adds precision. You do not start over from scratch — you use the five-minute marks as checkpoints and finish with single-minute counting. For example, if the hand is two ticks past the 4: skip-count to 20, then count 21, 22. The time is __:22. This is exactly how mental arithmetic builds on earlier skills.