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3rd Grade Math

Welcome to the Third Grade Math homepage! In third grade, students build on and deepen their understanding of early elementary mathematical concepts. Third graders will extend their knowledge of addition and subtraction in one- and two-digit numbers to add and subtract three- and four-digit numbers with and without regrouping. The standards continue to emphasize the use of place value to explain why addition and subtraction strategies work. Additionally, students explore multiplication as the representation of equal groups and they will be pushed to use models, words, and equations to represent and explain multiplication. Similarly, students will extend what they know about subtraction to explore division as repeated subtraction. The lessons strongly emphasize solving two-step word problems across all four operations. Later, third graders will spend a large portion of time on the exploration of fractions. Students will use models, words, and fractional notation to explore and explain fractions. Finally, students will apply their understanding of fractions to compare fractions and find equivalent fractions. Across all units of study, third graders will be challenged to think critically, make real-world connections, and apply problem-solving skills.

Getting Started

Please review the CityTutor DC Lesson Overview and terms of use before using CTDC lessons.

To support alignment with common DC curricula, please review the 3rd Grade Pacing Guide.

3rd Grade Math Unit Materials

Unit 1: Foundations of Multiplication and Division

In this unit, third graders explore multiplication and division through models and real world problems. Students move gradually from concrete drawings and “groups of” language to skip-counting and arrays to eventually using the distributive and associative property as strategies for multiplying and dividing larger factors. By the end of third grade, students will be able to multiply and divide within 100 as well as explain why strategies work based on properties of operations and the relationship between multiplication and division.

Unit 2: Place Value

In this unit, third graders build on their work with two-digit numbers from second grade. Students will extend their understanding of place value, including the ability to identify and represent the value of digits within numbers up to 1,000. They will learn to round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100 and apply this knowledge in solving real-world problems. Later on, students will use their knowledge of place value to add and subtract three-digit numbers with and without regrouping. Finally, students will apply their knowledge of place value to compare and order numbers based on their place value positions.

Unit 3: Area

In third grade, students begin to explore the concept of area, understanding it as the measurement of the space enclosed within a two-dimensional shape. They learn to calculate the area of rectangles and squares first by counting unit squares then by connecting side lengths to equal groups and skip counting and ultimately using multiplication. Additionally, third graders gain an awareness of how changing the dimensions of a shape affects its area, laying the foundation for more advanced geometry concepts.

Unit 4: Fractions

In third grade, students build on their understanding from previous years in which they came to understand fractions as a way to name parts of a whole or a set. Until now students have not been exposed to fractional notation (i.e. writing a numerator over a denominator), instead they likely learned to name parts of a whole with words like halves, fourths, eighths. In this unit, they learn to write fractions and they understand the numerator as the number of pieces and the denominator as the size of the pieces. Students use these understandings to represent fractions on a number line and compare them based on their size. Third graders also gain the ability to add and subtract simple fractions with the same denominator, setting the stage for deeper explorations of fraction operations in subsequent grades.

Unit 5: Geometry

In third grade, students are introduced to quadrilaterals, which are four-sided polygons. They learn to differentiate between various types of quadrilaterals, such as squares, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids, based on their defining characteristics like side lengths and angles. In this unit, third graders will also come back to the concept or area as they learn how to calculate perimeters of polygons.

Unit 6: Time

In third grade, students expand their time-telling skills by mastering both analog and digital clocks. They learn to tell time to the nearest minute on analog clocks and understand the relationship between the hour and minute hands. Additionally, third graders practice reading and interpreting digital time, honing their ability to apply these skills to real-world scenarios such as schedules and elapsed time calculations.

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