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Common Core Math2nd GradeMeasurement & Data

2.MD.7: Tell Time to Five Minutes

Also written as 2.MD.C.7 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.7 · Cluster: Work with time and money.

Make a Telling Time WorksheetAll 26 2nd Grade Math Standards

The Official Wording

Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Measurement & Data · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What 2.MD.7 Means in Plain English

Second graders read an analog clock whose minute hand is on a number: the short hand past the 2 and the long hand on the 7 is 2:35, found by skip-counting by fives. They write it as digits and add a.m. or p.m. from the part of the day.

First grade stopped at the hour and half hour (1.MD.3). Counting by fives around the face is 2.NBT.2 put to work, and the a.m. and p.m. labels are new. In 3rd grade the clock is read to the minute and students work out elapsed time (3.MD.1).

2.MD.7 I Can Statements

  • I can read the hour hand and the minute hand on a clock.
  • I can count by fives to tell time to the nearest five minutes.
  • I can write a time with a.m. or p.m.

2.MD.7 Worked Example

One clock face read hand by hand, with the skip-count said out loud and the a.m. or p.m. decided from the school day.

Problem

The short hand is a little past the 2 and the long hand points at the 7. It is after lunch. Write the time.

Reading 2:35 on a clock face
  1. Find the short hand first. It is past the 2 but has not reached the 3, so the hour is 2.Hour: 2
  2. The long hand points at the 7. Each number on the clock is 5 minutes, so skip-count by fives up to the 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35
  3. Write the hour, a colon, then the minutes.2:35
  4. Morning or afternoon? Lunch is over and school is still going, so it is afternoon.2:35 p.m.
Answer2:35 p.m.

Check it: The hour hand sits a little past halfway between the 2 and the 3, which fits 35 minutes past 2. The digital clock in the room should read 2:35.

Common Mistakes with 2.MD.7

Reading the minute hand as the number it points to

Long hand on the 7 read as 7 minutes, so 2:07 instead of 2:35

Try this: Tape the minute counts 5, 10, 15 around a classroom clock until students skip-count the fives on their own.

Rounding the hour up

At 2:50 the hour hand is close to the 3, so the student writes 3:50

Try this: Ask which number the hour hand has already passed. The hour is the number behind the hand, not ahead of it.

Guessing a.m. and p.m.

Bedtime written as 8:00 a.m., or a.m. and p.m. swapped at noon

Try this: Anchor the two with the day: a.m. runs from midnight to noon, p.m. from noon to midnight, and sort familiar events onto each side.

Where 2.MD.7 Fits

Comes Before1.MD.3Tell and write time in hours and half hours.
Alongside2.NBT.2Skip-count by 5s, which is how the minute hand is read.2.MD.8Solve money word problems, the other half of this cluster.
Comes Next3.MD.1Tell time to the nearest minute and solve elapsed-time problems.4.MD.2Solve word problems involving intervals of time.

Practice 2.MD.7

Math Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolTelling time practice at the 2nd grade level with an answer key: read the clock face, write the digital time, choose a.m. or p.m.Grade 2Telling timeAnswer key
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Quick Check

  1. The short hand is between the 4 and the 5, and the long hand points at the 3. What time is it?
  2. The long hand points at the 11. How many minutes past the hour is that?
  3. Soccer practice starts at 3:40 after school. Is that 3:40 a.m. or 3:40 p.m.?

2.MD.7: Other Names

2.MD.72.MD.C.7CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.7

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.