Seconds, Minutes, and Hours

$Seconds, Minutes, and Hours book cover$

Grade 1
3 skill lessons

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1Shortest to Longest
2Which Unit Fits?
3Sixty Seconds Long

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

No math-through-reading lessons for this book yet.

Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

4What Can You Do In A...? The Question This Book Keeps Asking
5Longer Than: The Sentence Shape That Holds Two Things
6I Can, I Can: The Two Answers Under Every Question
7About the Author: A Part of the Book About the Person Who Wrote It

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Skill lessons

3 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. Shortest to Longest Concept · Ordering second, minute, hour and day from shortest to longest

The book states its whole order in four sentences and never lays it out. Students build the line themselves: a card for each unit, placed by evidence they have just produced with their own hands and a timer. A second is what one snap fits inside; a minute holds a whole name written and a count to fifty; an hour holds a soccer game; a day holds school and a visit to grandma. The order stops being four sentences to remember and becomes a strip on the floor that each card had to earn a place on.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Snap a second (4 min)
Each student snaps once while the teacher holds a timer at one second. Snap again, and again, counting the snaps out loud, one snap to one second. Say what fits inside one second and what plainly does not: a snap fits, writing your whole name does not.
Word preview: second, snap
A second is very short.
I can wait. I can snap.
2. Fill a minute (6 min)
Start the timer at one minute and go. Each student writes their own name over and over until the minute ends, then counts aloud toward fifty on a second run. Stop on the timer, not on a feeling. Count how many names got written and say the number aloud: that many names is what one minute held for you.
Word preview: minute, longer
What can you do in a minute?
I can write my name. I can count to 50.
3. Name an hour and a day (5 min)
Nobody times an hour in this lesson, so students borrow the book's evidence instead. Read the hour activities and the day activities aloud. Each student names one thing from their own afternoon that takes about an hour and one thing that takes a whole day, and says which of the two is longer and how they know.
Word preview: hour, day
I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.
4. Build the line (5 min)
Working in pairs, students lay the four unit cards left to right, shortest first. For each join they say out loud which is longer and name the thing that proves it: a minute beats a second because a snap fits in a second and writing your name does not. A pair that cannot give the proof moves the card back and tries the join again.
Word preview: shortest, longest
A minute is longer than a second.
An hour is longer than a minute.
A day is longer than an hour.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Snap a second (3 min)
Snap once against a one-second timer, then again, counting one snap to one second. Say what fits inside a second and what does not.
Word preview: second, snap
A second is very short.
2. Build the line (6 min)
Lay the four unit cards left to right, shortest first. For each join say which is longer and name the thing that proves it. Move a card back if the proof will not come.
Word preview: shortest, longest
A minute is longer than a second.
A day is longer than an hour.

Three levels

Support: Work with two cards at a time rather than four, always the pair the students have just timed: second against minute first, and only when that join is said confidently, minute against hour. The proof may be given by pointing at the paper of names rather than in a full sentence.
At Grade: Time the second and the minute, borrow the book's hour and day, and build all four cards into one line with a spoken proof at every join.
Extension: After the line is built, hand the pair an activity the book never names, brushing teeth, eating lunch, a night's sleep, and have them argue it into a place on the line against the neighbours it lands between. The argument must name what they timed, not what feels right.

English learners

Second, minute, hour and day are English labels for lengths every child already lives through, so the concept transfers whole and only the four words are new. The comparison frame is fixed and worth rehearsing aloud before the pairs work: a ___ is longer than a ___. A student may build the card line correctly and point at the proof while the English sentence is still arriving, and a student who has the words for these units in their strongest language should say the line in that language first, then swap in the four English cards.

Materials

Timer or stopwatch with a second display
Printed source passage in this step
Lined paper and pencil per student
Four unit cards per pair of students, one each for second, minute, hour and day
Floor strip or long paper per pair of students
Word cards: second, minute, hour, day

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

2. Which Unit Fits? Application · Choosing the unit that fits the length of an activity

The book asks its four questions and answers every one of them itself. Here the students do the answering, and they answer with a timer rather than an opinion. Each pair runs an activity, reads what the timer says, and chooses the unit that fits what they measured: seconds for a snap, minutes for a name written fifty times over, hours for a soccer game. The choice is a measurement result, not a guess, and the wrong-unit answers are the ones worth arguing about.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. The book asks, we answer (3 min)
Read the book's four questions aloud, one after another, without the book's answers. Students hear that each question is really asking how long, and that the four questions are the same question about four different lengths. Nobody answers yet.
Word preview: second, minute, hour
What can you do in a second?
What can you do in a minute?
What can you do in an hour?
2. Run and time (8 min)
Pairs take turns: one does the activity, the other reads the timer and calls out the finish. Snap once. Clap ten times. Write your name. Count to fifty. Walk to the door and back. After each one the timer reader says the number of seconds out loud and the pair writes it beside the activity on the record sheet.
Word preview: timer, seconds
I can count to 50.
3. Second or minute (5 min)
Students look down their own column of numbers and draw a line where the times stop being a handful of seconds and start being most of a minute. For each activity they say which unit they would use to tell someone how long it took, and read their own number as the reason.
Word preview: longer
4. Catch the wrong unit (4 min)
The teacher offers three claims to judge: a snap takes about a minute, writing your name takes about an hour, a soccer game takes about a second. Students say whether each one fits and give the timed number that settles it. Each wrong claim gets repaired out loud with the unit that does fit.
I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Run and time (5 min)
Pairs take turns running and timing: snap once, clap ten times, write your name, count to fifty. The timer reader calls the seconds out loud and the pair writes the number down.
Word preview: timer, seconds
I can count to 50.
2. Second or minute (4 min)
Look down the column of numbers and say, for each activity, which unit you would use to tell someone how long it took. Read your own number as the reason.
Word preview: longer

Three levels

Support: Run only the two activities at the far ends, one snap and counting to fifty, and choose between two unit cards rather than naming a unit unprompted. The gap between the two numbers is wide enough to hear, and the choice can be made by holding up the card.
At Grade: Time all five activities, choose a unit for each from the numbers on the record sheet, and settle the three claim cards with a timed number as the reason.
Extension: Choose an activity nobody timed, a school day, a lunch break, a car ride to the library, and argue for its unit without a timer, saying which timed activity it is most like and why. Naming the closest measured neighbour is the whole of the argument.

English learners

The unit words are the new English here, not the idea: every language marks these lengths. The choosing sentence has a frame worth putting on the board and rehearsing before the pairs split, I would say ___ because it took ___. A student can be the timer reader and call the number in any language while the frame is still settling, and reading the number aloud is real participation in the mathematics, not a lesser job.

Materials

Printed source passage in this step
Timer or stopwatch with a second display
Record sheet with the five activities listed, one per pair of students
Pencil per student
Three claim cards for the class, one claim on each
Word cards: second, minute, hour, timer

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

3. Sixty Seconds Long Representation · Measuring one minute as sixty counted seconds

The book prints the same equation twice and never once uses it. Students use it: they count sixty seconds against a running timer and watch the minute arrive exactly as the sixtieth second lands. Nobody multiplies and nobody converts. The sixty is built by counting, one second at a time, and the printed sentence becomes something the class has watched happen rather than something it has been told.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the sentence (3 min)
Read the printed sentence twice, once from the middle of the book and once from the list at the back. Students say what the two sides are, sixty of the short ones and one of the longer one, and predict how long the counting will take.
Word preview: seconds, minute
60 seconds equals one minute.
2. Count the sixty (7 min)
The teacher starts a one-minute timer where the class can see it. Everyone counts the seconds aloud together, one number per second, all the way to sixty. The count and the timer finish together. Run it a second time with the class counting alone and the timer hidden, then reveal how close the count landed.
Word preview: sixty
60 seconds equals one minute.
3. Mark the sixty (6 min)
Each student colours one square for every second on a sixty-square strip while a partner counts the seconds aloud to sixty. The full strip is one minute. Students say the sentence with a hand on the strip: this whole strip is one minute, and every square in it is one second.
Word preview: strip
4. Half the strip (4 min)
Students fold the finished strip in half and count the squares in one half to thirty. They say what half a minute is worth in seconds, using the squares they just counted as the reason, and hold up the folded strip beside a whole one to show the two lengths together.
Word preview: half

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the sixty (5 min)
Count the seconds aloud together, one number per second, against a visible one-minute timer. The count and the timer finish together.
Word preview: seconds, minute, sixty
60 seconds equals one minute.
2. Mark the sixty (4 min)
Colour one square per second on a sixty-square strip while a partner counts to sixty. Say the sentence with a hand on the finished strip: this whole strip is one minute.
Word preview: strip

Three levels

Support: Count and colour in tens, pausing at every tenth square to say the number reached, so the sixty arrives in six landmarks rather than one long run. A partner may hold the strip and point at the square being coloured.
At Grade: Count sixty seconds against the timer, colour the full sixty-square strip one square per second, and say what the whole strip and one square each represent.
Extension: Lay two finished strips end to end and say what the two together are worth, then count the squares in tens to check the answer. The count is the check; nobody multiplies sixty by two.

English learners

Counting to sixty in a strongest language runs faster and steadier than counting in a newly arriving one, so invite it for the timed run and keep the English count for the strip, where there is no clock to beat. The two-part sentence is worth rehearsing, sixty seconds is the same as one minute, and a student can show the whole idea by holding up the strip and pointing at one square before the sentence is available.

Materials

Printed source passage in this step
Timer or stopwatch with a second display visible to the whole class
Sixty-square strip per student
Crayon or marker per student
Word cards: second, minute, sixty

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

Reading and language lessons

4 lessons on the reading and language the book carries - what a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how a text is built. No mathematics: these are matched against the English language arts curricula, which are a different and smaller set than the mathematics ones.

4. What Can You Do In A...? The Question This Book Keeps Asking Comprehension · Noticing the Question a Writer Asks Again and Again

This writer builds nearly the whole book on one question, changing a single word each time and letting a voice answer it. Students find the question mark in two printed parts, read question and answer in two voices, then borrow the question shape for something of their own. They finish at the one question that is built differently. No time is measured or converted; the work is seeing how a question organises an informational book.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the question in each printed part (6 min)
The teacher reads the two passages below. Each one has a question in it. Point to the question mark in each passage, then read both questions aloud. Say what is the same about the two questions and what one word changes.
Word preview: question, ask
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
2. Say who is asking and who is answering (5 min)
Read the two passages below with a partner. In each one, the writer asks and then somebody answers. Read the question in one voice and the answers in another. Say aloud how you can tell where the question stops and the answer starts.
Word preview: answer, voice
An hour is longer than a minute. What can you do in an hour? 60 minutes equals 1 hour. I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
A day is longer than an hour. What can you do in a day? 24 hours equals one day. I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.
3. Ask the writer's question about something else (5 min)
Read the passage below again. Borrow the writer's question and put a new word in the empty place: What can you do in a ___? Ask your partner your question, then answer theirs. Use the writer's own opening words, What can you do.
Word preview: borrow
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.
4. Find the one question that is asked a different way (4 min)
Read the passage below. It asks a question too, but it does not begin the way the other questions began. Read it aloud, then say aloud what it asks for that the earlier questions did not: a thing, not something you do.
Word preview: use, different
What do we use to measure time?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the question in each printed part (5 min)
The teacher reads the two passages below. Point to the question mark in each, read both questions aloud, and say which one word changes between them.
Word preview: question
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
2. Ask the writer's question about something else (4 min)
Read the passage below and borrow its question. Put a new word in the empty place and ask a partner. Answer theirs too.
Word preview: borrow
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, put your finger on the question mark. Then echo the question after the teacher and say the last word before the mark.
At Grade: Read both printed passages in step 1 and say what stays the same in the two questions and which single word changes.
Extension: The printed question in step 4 begins differently from the others. Say two sentences about what it asks for that the earlier questions did not.

English learners

English questions of this kind put the helper word can in front of the person: What can you do, not What you can do. Say the whole question as one chunk, several times, before changing the last word. Invite students to ask the same question in their strongest language and notice where the question word sits. Rehearsable frame: What can you do in a ___? I can ___.

Materials

Seconds, Minutes, and Hours, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
partner
Word cards: question, ask, answer, use

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

5. Longer Than: The Sentence Shape That Holds Two Things Vocabulary · Reading a Comparing Sentence Built Around the Word Than

Three sentences in this book share one shape, and the writer chains them by ending each with the word that opens the next. Students find longer than in two printed parts, notice the word handed along between them, and test what happens when the two names are swapped. The lesson is about how than orders the two sides of a comparing sentence, not about how long any unit of time is.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the sentence that holds two things together (6 min)
Read the two passages below with the teacher. Each one starts with a sentence using the same three words: longer than. Point to those words in each passage. Say aloud which thing goes first in each sentence and which thing goes after than.
Word preview: longer, than
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
An hour is longer than a minute. What can you do in an hour? 60 minutes equals 1 hour. I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
2. Notice the word that gets passed along (5 min)
Read the two passages below. Read the first sentence of each one, one after the other. Say aloud the word that ends the first of those sentences and then starts the next one. Say what that hand-over lets the writer do without saying it.
Word preview: chain, pass along
An hour is longer than a minute. What can you do in an hour? 60 minutes equals 1 hour. I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
A day is longer than an hour. What can you do in a day? 24 hours equals one day. I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.
3. Turn the sentence around and say what happens (5 min)
Read the passage below again. Say its first sentence out loud with the two naming words swapped over. Say aloud whether the new sentence still says the same thing, and what that tells you about the word than.
Word preview: swap, than
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
4. Say the opposite comparing word (4 min)
Read the passage below. Its first sentence uses longer. There is another way to say the same fact by starting with the other thing and using the opposite word, shorter. Say that sentence aloud to a partner. Use than in your sentence.
Word preview: shorter, opposite
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the sentence that holds two things together (5 min)
Read the two passages below with the teacher. Point to longer than in each, and say which thing goes before it and which goes after.
Word preview: longer, than
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
An hour is longer than a minute. What can you do in an hour? 60 minutes equals 1 hour. I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
2. Turn the sentence around and say what happens (4 min)
Read the passage below and say its first sentence with the two naming words swapped. Say whether it still means the same.
Word preview: swap
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, put a finger on longer and a finger on than. Echo the whole first sentence after the teacher.
At Grade: Read both printed passages in step 1 and say, for each first sentence, which naming word comes before than and which comes after.
Extension: In step 2 the same word ends one printed sentence and begins the next. Say two sentences about why a writer would build a book that way.

English learners

The comparing word here is built with -er and needs than to complete it; many languages use a different marker or none at all, and than is easy to drop. Say the whole frame aloud as one chunk before filling it. Invite students to compare two things they know in their strongest language, then in English. Rehearsable frame: A ___ is longer than a ___.

Materials

Seconds, Minutes, and Hours, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
partner
Word cards: longer, than, shorter, opposite, swap

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

6. I Can, I Can: The Two Answers Under Every Question Comprehension · Recognising Examples a Writer Gives to Answer Their Own Question

Every question in this book is answered by exactly two sentences beginning I can, and which two the writer chose is the whole point. Students read a printed pair, then sort answers back to their questions with the questions hidden, then say why these particular examples fit and add their own. Nothing is timed or converted; the work is understanding what an example is for and how a reader tells a good one from a wrong one.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the two answers that follow the question (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. After the question there are two short sentences that both start the same way. Read them aloud. Say what the first two words of each one are, and say aloud why the writer put two answers instead of one.
Word preview: example, I can
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.
2. Sort the answers to the right question (5 min)
Read the two passages below with a partner. Cover the questions with your hand and read only the I can sentences. Say aloud which passage each pair of answers belongs to, and say which word in the answer helped you decide.
Word preview: belongs to
An hour is longer than a minute. What can you do in an hour? 60 minutes equals 1 hour. I can play in a soccer game. I can go to the library.
A day is longer than an hour. What can you do in a day? 24 hours equals one day. I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.
3. Say why these answers and not others (5 min)
Read the passage below. The writer could have written any answer at all. Say aloud why writing my name and counting are good answers for this question, using the words the passage prints. Then say one answer that would not fit here.
Word preview: fit, why
A minute is longer than a second. What can you do in a minute? 60 seconds equals one minute. I can write my name. I can count to 50.
4. Add your own answer in the writer's shape (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time. Then say two more answers of your own to its question, in the writer's shape: I can ___. Say them to a partner and listen to theirs.
Word preview: I can, add
A day is longer than an hour. What can you do in a day? 24 hours equals one day. I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the two answers that follow the question (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Read the two short answer sentences aloud and say the two words they both start with.
Word preview: I can
A second is very short. What can you do in a second? I can wait. I can snap.
2. Add your own answer in the writer's shape (4 min)
Read the passage below and say two answers of your own to its question, using the writer's shape, I can ___.
Word preview: add
A day is longer than an hour. What can you do in a day? 24 hours equals one day. I can visit my grandma. I can go to school.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, find the two words I can and echo each short sentence after the teacher. Then say one of the two answers by yourself.
At Grade: Read the printed passage in step 1 and say what the two answers have in common and why the writer gave two rather than one.
Extension: The printed passages in step 2 have answers that could be swapped by mistake. Say two sentences about which words stop that from happening.

English learners

I can is a fixed opening here and the verb after it takes no ending: I can go, not I can goes. Say several examples aloud in a row so the flat verb is heard as normal. Invite students to give one answer in their strongest language first, then in the frame. Rehearsable frame: I can ___.

Materials

Seconds, Minutes, and Hours, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
partner
Word cards: example, I can, fit, add, belongs to

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

7. About the Author: A Part of the Book About the Person Who Wrote It Comprehension · Reading a Heading and the Back-of-Book Part It Introduces

Near the back this book stops talking about its subject and starts talking about the person who wrote it, and a three-word heading warns the reader that the change is coming. Students hold that part beside the book's opening sentence, list what the part actually tells them, and test whether the heading kept its promise before writing a heading for the part that has none. The work is what a heading does for a reader.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read a part that is not about the subject at all (6 min)
Read the two passages below with the teacher. One is the book's first sentence and tells you what the book is about. The other is a part near the back. Say aloud who the second passage is about, and say whether that person appears anywhere in the rest of the book.
Word preview: author, about
Seconds, minutes and hours help us measure time.
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.
2. Find the three things this part tells you (5 min)
Read the passage below again with a partner. Find one sentence that says what she likes doing, one that says where she works, and one that says who lives with her. Point to each. Say aloud which of the three you would most want to know.
Word preview: writes, lives, teaches
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.
3. Say what the heading promised and whether it kept its promise (5 min)
Read the passage below. Read only its first two words aloud, then read the rest. Say aloud what those first words told you was coming, and whether what came next matched. Then say aloud what a heading is for.
Word preview: heading, promise
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.
4. Write a heading for the other part (4 min)
Read the two passages below. One already has a heading. The other does not. Tell a partner a heading of your own for the one without a heading, in three words or fewer, and say why your heading fits what that passage says.
Word preview: heading, fits
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.
Seconds, minutes and hours help us measure time.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read a part that is not about the subject at all (5 min)
Read the two passages below with the teacher. Say who the second one is about, and whether that person appears in the rest of the book.
Word preview: author
Seconds, minutes and hours help us measure time.
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.
2. Say what the heading promised and whether it kept its promise (4 min)
Read the passage below. Read its first two words, then the rest, and say whether what came next matched what the heading promised.
Word preview: heading
About the author. Holly Carapetcova, PhD, loves writing books and poems for kids and adults. She teaches at Marymount University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her son, K.J., and her two dogs, Muffie and Attila.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, find the word author and echo the heading after the teacher. Then say the writer's first name aloud.
At Grade: Read both printed passages in step 1 and say what each one is about, then say why the second one is not part of the book's subject.
Extension: The heading in step 3 is only three words long. Say two sentences about what a reader expects after it and how the sentences that follow meet that expectation.

English learners

About here means on the topic of, which is a different sense from the everyday about meaning roughly or nearly. Say both senses aloud in short sentences so the difference is heard before the heading is read. Invite students to say, in their strongest language, what they would put in a part about themselves. Rehearsable frame: This part is about ___. It tells me ___.

Materials

Seconds, Minutes, and Hours, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
partner
Word cards: author, heading, about, fits, teaches, lives

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.