Read A Clock

In our digital world, the ability to read an analog clock is still valuable. This song mentions the basic components of reading a clock face – the short hand, the long hand, and the numbers. While this is not an exhaustive lesson in reading a clock, it's enough to get your youngsters thinking about the concept, and it's a good setup for teaching them how to do so.

Musically, the song has an uplifting feel. It begins with clock sounds – seconds ticking by and hand movement sounds. Pizzicato strings and piano start their plucky motif. The vocal line is simple and repetitive. On the repeat, we add a beautiful piccolo trumpet line, played by John Rommel.

For movement, you could have a large cardboard clock on stage, and have the kids point to the short hand and the long hand when mentioned. During the chorus, you could have students hold one hand straight up, indicating the short hand, and have them use the other hand to move "around the dial" as each hour is mentioned – one o'clock, two o'clock, and so on. Have them change which hand points to twelve once you get to seven o'clock, so they don't have to point across the body to the hour, which would be awkward. Have them put thumbs to chest when they sing "I can read a clock!"