Time flies when you're teaching math! Okay, maybe not for everyone, but this lesson plan will have your young mathematicians calculating elapsed time before you know it.

Concepts

elapsed time, measurement, time word problems, time intervals, word problems

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Offer the "Elapsed Time Word Problems" resource as a math learning center during a lesson series on time
• Differentiate the "Elapsed Time Lines" worksheet by making copies with different start and end times already filled in
• Create a time line on the classroom floor with masking tape, using it to physically engage children in calculating elapsed time
• Adapt this lesson to teach how to calculate elapsed time to the nearest half hour, quarter hour, or minute

Pros

• Lesson uses students' prior experience with number lines to teach them about elapsed time
• A writing prompt is provided that requires children to explain their understanding of elapsed time in a real world context
• All supporting materials are included with the lesson
• Blank word problem cards are provided, allowing students to create their own elapsed time problems

Cons

• None

Common Core

3.MD.A.1 4.MD.A.2 MP4 MP6 MP7