Cool School Tool #6: ‘Time Monsters’ Teaches Kids to Tell Time

Telling time -- especially in this age of digital clocks -- can be a difficult skill for kids to pick up. But thanks to Professor Tempo and the gremlins that comprise Marc Gunderson’s Time Monsters Web site, many kids are successfully learning to figure out half-past and quarter-to.

The interactive Time Monsters site is a one-man labor of love. At first look, it might not overwhelm the eyes, but Gunderson's simple design belies its utter usefulness in the classroom or at home. The practical Time Monster lessons and quizzes will have kids telling time in no time!

Time Monsters is a cool tool worth sharing in your teacher and parent newsletters. The site is perfect for whole-class or one-on-one instruction. Teachers or parents can click the Lesson tab at the top of the page for quick access to lessons that teach specific time increments. The Quiz tab provides practice in telling any time increment; or teachers can use the Quizzes to create a telling-time game the whole class can play.

“My goal was to create a site that children could use without having to know how to read,” Gunderson told Education World. “Many children who are learning to tell time do not necessarily have the reading skills to use most telling-time tools. So the entire Time Monsters site is spoken and animated. It is the only site on the Internet that fully covers the complex concept of telling time without requiring an adult presence.”

The feedback has been incredible, added Gunderson. “The emails have made the months of work all worthwhile,” he said. He gets plenty of email from adults who tried for months to teach their kids to tell time; they thank him for creating such an easy-to-use tool. But he especially loves the email he gets from kids, like the emails that simply thank him for helping them learn to tell time or the email that said I lov you monsters. Thnk you

A new version of Time Monsters -- incorporating suggestions that Gunderson has received from teachers, parents, and kids as well as a new user interface -- will make its debut later this year.

TELLING TIME LESSON IDEAS FROM EDUCATION WORLD

It’s About Time: Teaching Students to Tell Time

More ‘Telling Time’ Lesson Plans

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