Telling Time Question Game

We always thought that our version of the Question Game was a big hit and super effective with students. When I use any of these activities, I can see the cogs churning away as my students generate questions to fit the prescribed answers. For beginners, it’s a serious challenge that takes a lot of effort just to complete the exercise, and for the more advanced students it’s a great reminder that they haven’t mastered question making just yet. We hope this version, the Telling Time Question Game, will help your students make better, more complete, interesting and correct questions while practicing telling time all at once.

The rules are nearly always the same. Choose one of the times on the poster. Give your students a time limit, maybe 2 minutes. They must make questions that A) utilize the time shown and B) have matching answers to the three propositions underneath the clock. Then, students share their questions with the class. Each time a question is correct and original, they earn a point. A bonus is that you can then have them use those questions in pairs, small groups or breakout rooms to add a discussion portion to your class.

For example:

05:45

Do you wake up at a quarter to six every morning? (No, I don’t)

Who wakes up at five forty-five? (Nobody.)

How often do you go to bed at five forty-five in the morning? (Rarely.)