Converting Minutes & Hours

Another common core target that we are working on for 4th grade is converting between minutes and hours.  Using my yard bug as a starting point, I came up with Miss Ticktock who teaches her  little clocks how to find either the minutes or hours for conversion problems.  The first little clock says, "I know the hours, so I multiply by 60!"  The second little clock says, "I know the minutes, so I'll make a chart!"

The chart that the students use is a t-chart much like the one used for teaching inches and feet.  I've also attached an example below:

Converting Inches & Feet

Currently, I am teaching converting inches and feet to my 4th graders.  Here is a poster with prompts on how to solve the problems.

I originally got the idea from a friend who taught her 3rd graders about the 'yard bug' she found in her backyard that has 3 feet.  We don't have that math target so I modified the bug a little.  I taught that the yard bug has 3 feet and instead of toes it has 12 inches on each foot.  The yard bug is teaching her little bugs how to convert inches and feet and always asks, "Do you know the inches or the feet?"  Each little bug has a different answer that helps the student decide what operation to use.  The first little bug says, "I know the feet, so I multiply by 12!"  The second little bug says, "I know the inches, so I'll make a chart!"  Instead of teaching my students how to divide by 12, I taught them to make a t-chart, similar to the one we use for division in Everyday Math.  Here is an example:

I usually have them only go up to about 5 feet or so to start.