Time Stories
Read each story. Draw a number line if it helps. Write the time or the number of minutes.
Fresh sheet anytime. Tap New sheet or reload for a different one. Tap + for up to 10.
This is sheet #77324601.
How to do it
- Read the story and find the times.
- Decide if you need a start time, an end time or how long.
- Solve with a number line and write the answer.
Teaching tip
Underline every time and number of minutes in the story before solving. This sheet is aligned with Common Core 3.MD.A.1.
About this worksheet
Short word problems, like "Recess starts at 10:45 and lasts 25 minutes. When does it end?"
What kids practice
Third graders tell time to the exact minute, like 4:37, and work out elapsed time, which is how much time passes from a start time to an end time. They count by 5s to the last number the long hand passed, then count on by 1s. For elapsed time they jump along a number line, often to the next hour first, and add the jumps.
Watch for
- Reading the hour from the number the short hand is closest to, even when it has not reached it yet.
- Counting by 5s past the long hand instead of switching to 1s.
- Treating 60 minutes like 100, so 2:50 plus 20 minutes becomes 2:70.
It's free to print, with Fewer, Standard or More on the page and an answer key. See the full time to the minute and elapsed time guide for 3rd grade.
More sheets in this set
- See it all
1. Telling Time ChartA clock showing 4:37 with the minutes around the edge, how to count by 5s and then 1s, and what a.m. and p.m. mean. - See it all
2. Elapsed Time ChartHow to find how long something takes, when it ends and when it started, with number line jumps. 
3. Read the Clock to the MinuteClocks showing times like 4:37 and 9:52. Write the time shown.
4. Draw the HandsDraw the hour and minute hands to show times like 9:52 and 2:18.
5. Elapsed Time on a Number LineFind how long it is from one time to another, like 2:15 to 3:40, with two jumps on a number line.
6. Start, End or How Long?A table of activities where the start time, the time it took or the end time is missing.
8. Daily ScheduleA schedule for a field trip, camp or school day with how-long and what-time questions.