TIM’s TIME A Story of a Timely Friendship 11 10
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It was a peaceful morning at Tim’s neighbourhood in the eastern part of Singapore. When the hands of the clock struck six, the morning calm was pierced by the ringing of an alarm clock! Tim’s dream about food was interrupted as he rubbed his eyes furiously.
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6:00 6.00 a.m. 6 o’clock
Tim is an eight-year-old boy who loves food, cars and books. He spends most of his days poring over books on cars, daydreaming about food and what to have for his next meal. “Hmm… Yum!” is what he usually mutters.
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Every day, bright and early, Tim would think about what to have for breakfast.
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6:30 6.30 a.m. 30 minutes past 6 half past 6
At half past six, Tim gobbled down the hearty breakfast that his mother had prepared. He was over the moon to have eggs, sausages and toast for breakfast. It was exactly what he had been thinking of! “Hmm… Yum!” Tim muttered with delight. This nutritious breakfast gave Tim a great start for his day of learning.
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At seven school.
o’clock, Tim was all ready for
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Eagerly, he hopped onto the school bus which would stop just outside his house. It would take him another half before he arrived at school.
an hour
Tim did not like to be late. He wanted to be on time, especially for school.
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7:00 7.00 a.m. 7 o’clock
* 1 hour is 60 minutes * half an hour is 30 minutes
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Once Tim arrived in school, he looked up at the gigantic clock in front of his school building. It was 30 minutes for his lessons.
past 7. Tim has always been on time
“HURRAY!” Tim squealed in delight. However, Tim never expected the many struggles that he had to face that day. 11 10
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7:30
7.30 a.m. 30 minutes past seven half past 7 6
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At eight in the morning, it was time for Mathematics. It was Tim’s favourite subject.
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8:00 8.00 a.m. 8 o’clock
He loved all the hands-on activities that his teacher, Mrs Tan, carried out in class. The first 30 minutes of the lesson was especially tough as Mrs Tan started on a new topic, Fractions. Tim knew he had to focus on her explanations.
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After 8.30 a.m., the lesson got more interesting as Mrs Tan used fraction discs to explain her lesson. Soon, Tim began to understand. However, the fraction discs seemed to remind him of pizzas and cakes!
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8:30 8.30 a.m. 30 minutes past eight half past eight
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Half an hour later, at 9 o’clock, Tim had his Social Studies lesson. That day, Tim learnt about the various traditional kueh in Singapore. He loves traditional kueh and his favourite was kueh lapis.
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9:00 9.00 a.m. 9 o’clock
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At half class.
past nine, Tim had Physical Education (P.E.)
Mr Syed, his P.E. teacher, gave him some equipment and instructed Tim to set up the stations for the games. As Tim picked up the cones to lay them on the ground, they reminded him of ice-cream! 11 10
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9:30 9.30 a.m. 30 minutes past 9 half past nine
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Finally, it was 10 o’clock in the morning. It was time for recess! “HURRAY!” Tim squealed in delight. However, Tim knew he only had 30 minutes to enjoy his food. Hence, he made a quick dash to the fish ball noodle stall.
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10:00 10.00 a.m. 10 o’clock
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Tim’s eyes bulged when he saw the delicious bowl of fish ball noodles. “Hmmm… Yum!” Tim muttered with delight. Carefully, he carried the hot bowl of noodles to look for a seat. “Aha!” he exclaimed when he spotted his favourite corner in the canteen where he could sit and enjoy his meal.
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Just as Tim was about to tuck into his noodles, he caught sight of his classmate, Sam. He noticed that Sam had a worried look on his face. His lips were trembling as if he was holding back tears. Tim was concerned for his friend. He stopped eating and inched closer to Sam.
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Hey Sam! What are you doing here? Would you like to join me for recess?
Oh Tim, I think… I will have lunch later instead.
You can share my bowl of noodles with me!
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As Tim continued to talk to Sam, Sam began to share his troubles with Tim.
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Sam was feeling down as he was late for school again. Embarrassed, Sam admitted that he was late because he was not able to tell time.
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As Tim was listening to Sam, he had an idea! Since telling the time was something he could do well, Tim decided to help Sam!
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I will help you, Sam! I can tell the time very well.
There’s no time to waste. Let’s start learning now!
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You will? Thank you, Tim!
For a start, Tim introduced the parts of a clock to Sam. He taught him the hour and minute hand.
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minute
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The hour hand is ‘shorter’. The minute hand is ‘longer’. 18
He taught Sam how to read the time by starting with the hour hand, followed by the minute hand. Step 1:Tell the hour
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minute
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- Look at the hour hand (shorter). - Read the number that it points at. Say the number, ‘3’.
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hour
Step 2:Tell the minute
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- Look at the minute hand (longer). - It points to 12. When the minute hand points to ‘12’, we say ‘o’clock’.
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Step 3:Read the hour and minute.
The time is 3 o’clock. 19
Tim gave Sam another example.
Step 1:Tell the hour
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Step 2:Tell the minute - Look at the minute hand (longer). - It points to 12. When the minute hand points to 12, we say ‘o’clock’.
12 minute
- Look at the hour hand (shorter). - Read the number that it points at. Say the number, ‘5’.
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Step 3:Read the hour and minute.
The time is 5 o’clock. 20
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Over the next few days, Tim and Sam practised telling time to the hour. They also took note of the time of their daily activities.
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He woke up at 6 o’clock.
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Lessons started at 8 o’clock.
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Recess was at 10 o’clock.
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Dismissal time was at 2 o’clock.
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Once Sam was confident telling time in hours, Tim continued to teach him to tell time in minutes. Step 1:Tell the hour
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- Look at the hour hand (shorter). - The hand is slightly past 10. - So, it is still 10 o’clock.
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Step 2:Tell the minute
- Look at the minute hand 40 (longer). - The number tells the minutes in intervals of 5 minutes. - The minute hand points to 1. Hence, 1 x 5 min = 5 min - Therefore, when the minute hand points to 1, we say ‘5 minutes’.
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minute hour
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Step 3:Read the time. The time is 5 minutes past 10 or 10.05 a.m. 22
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Tim gave Sam another example of telling time to the minute. half past or 30 minutes past
Step 1:Tell the hour
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Step 2:Tell the minute (half past or 30 min past)
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- Look at the minute hand (longer). 35 - It points to 6. Hence, 6 x 5 min = 30 min - When the minute hand points to 6, we say ‘30 minutes’ or ‘half past’ or ‘30 minutes past’.
Step 3:Read the time We can read the time as - half past 10 or - 30 minutes past 10 or -10.30 a.m. (ten thirty)
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2 minute
- Look at the hour hand 55 (shorter). 12 - The hand is slightly past 10. 50 11 - The hour hand is half way 10 between 10 and 11. hour - So, it is still 10 o’clock. 9 45
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Sam also learnt about the digital clock that is widely used. There are no hands on the digital clock. Read the numbers from LEFT to RIGHT.
DIGITAL CLOCK
： 12 30 The first two numbers tell the
HOUR.
A colon separates the hour and minutes.
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The next two numbers tell the
MINUTES.
As Sam continued learning, he also began to reach school on time! 11 10
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He had breakfast at half past 6 (6.30 a.m.).
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Sam went to the playground during recess at 10.15 a.m.
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He reached school at 30 minutes past 7 (7.30 a.m.).
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Sam caught his favourite cartoon at 4.45 p.m.
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Soon, sadness was no longer seen on Sam’s face as he had improved tremendously in telling time. He also enjoyed learning about time through games such as, ‘What is the time, Mr Wolf?’. He had a lot of fun. Sam is now a happy and confident boy.
Do you know that 1 hour = 60 min?
Do you know that there are 24 hours in a day?
Do you know that the clock face shows the time in blocks of 5 minutes?
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Sam was extremely grateful to Tim. Sam knew he could not have learnt to tell time without Tim’s help. From that day onwards, Tim and Sam became best friends. They continued to help and learn from each other in school.
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Acknowledgements In preparing for this book, “Tim’s Time”, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Curriculum Planning and Development Division (CPDD) for giving us this golden opportunity to do this wonderful project.
Mdm Natila Abu Bakar & Ms Adeline Boon St. Hilda’s Primary School Mathematics Department
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ST. HILDA’S PRIMARY SCHOOL First Edition Published in July 2019 For more enquiries, please contact us at www.shps.moe.edu.sg or 6435 0212
