How to Help With 1st Grade Measurement & Time: A Parent's Guide
Want to help with 1st grade measurement & time at home? Here is what your 1st grader learns, what a typical question looks like, and simple ways to help, no lesson plan needed.
4 min read
In this article
Want to help with 1st grade measurement & time at home? Here is what your 1st grader learns, what a typical question looks like, and simple ways to help, no lesson plan needed.
Every example below comes from BAMS Academy's Measurement & Time practice, the same questions students answer on the site.
Measurement & Time in 1st grade, skill by skill
Measuring length and reading clocks and calendars. BAMS Academy breaks the unit into the skills below (part of all 1st grade math topics). Each comes with one of its practice questions.
Calculate elapsed time and convert between hours and minutes
A movie starts at 1:00 and lasts 1 hours. What time does it end (in 24-hour format, e.g. 14:00)? (Choices: 2:00; 1:00; 0:00; 3:00.)
Answer: 2:00. End time = start + duration = 1:00 + 1 hours = 2:00.
It is currently 6:00. Recess starts at 7:00. How many hours until recess? (Choices: 2 hours; 7 hours; 13 hours; 1 hour.)
Answer: 1 hour. Elapsed time = end − start = 7:00 − 6:00 = 1 hours.
Read a clock face to the nearest 5 minutes
On a clock, the minute hand points to the 2 (counting 5, 10, 15... around the clock face). How many minutes past the hour is that? (Choices: 2 minutes; 15 minutes; 20 minutes; 10 minutes.)
Answer: 10 minutes. Each mark on the clock face = 5 minutes, so the 2 mark = 2 × 5 = 10 minutes past the hour.
A clock shows quarter past the hour. How many minutes past the hour is that? (Choices: 20 minutes; 15 minutes; 16 minutes; 30 minutes.)
Answer: 15 minutes. Quarter past the hour is 15 minutes.
Convert between days, weeks, and months
Today is day 5 of the month. What day of the month will it be in 5 days? (Choices: day 11; day 5; day 1; day 10.)
Answer: day 10. Day 5 + 5 days = day 10.
Today is day 3 of the month. What day of the month will it be in 6 days? (Choices: day 10; day 6; day 1; day 9.)
Answer: day 9. Day 3 + 6 days = day 9.
What a 1st grade question looks like
Example 1
Question: How many minutes are there in 1 hours?
- 61 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 60 minutes
- 24 minutes
How to solve it: There are 60 minutes in an hour, so 1 hours = 1 × 60 = 60 minutes.
Answer: 60 minutes
Why the other choices don't work:
- A student who picks "61 minutes" usually added 60 once instead of multiplying.
- A student who picks "30 minutes" usually used 30 minutes per hour instead of 60.
- A student who picks "24 minutes" usually multiplied by 24 (hours in a day) instead of 60.
Example 2
Question: It is currently 1:00. Recess starts at 4:00. How many hours until recess?
- 3 hours
- 4 hours
- 5 hours
- 1 hour
How to solve it: Elapsed time = end − start = 4:00 − 1:00 = 3 hours.
Answer: 3 hours
Why the other choices don't work:
- A student who picks "4 hours" usually reported the end time instead of the elapsed time.
- A student who picks "5 hours" usually added the two times instead of subtracting.
Mix-ups to listen for
- A student who picks "3:00" usually reported the start time instead of the end time.
- A student who picks "0:00" usually subtracted the duration instead of adding it.
- A student who picks "3:00" usually off by one hour.
- A student who picks "2 minutes" usually used the mark number itself instead of multiplying by 5.
- A student who picks "30 minutes" usually mixed up quarter past and half past.
- A student who picks "day 5" usually reported the number of days added instead of the new date.
How you can help at home
- Ask your child to say each step out loud before choosing an answer. Explaining a step is how a gap in understanding shows up.
- Check wrong answers against the explanation, then try a similar question right away while the idea is fresh.
- Keep sessions short and regular: a handful of math questions most days works better than one long session.
Keep practicing
The fastest way to build confidence is a few questions at a time, with feedback on each answer. Start with Measurement & Time practice for grade 1, where every question comes with a step-by-step explanation.
More from BAMS Academy: