Third Grade Math Assessment: What Every Third Grader Should Know

What Third Graders Should Know

Basic Operations

In third grade, students will solve addition and subtraction problems with numbers up to 1,000, such as 987 - 65. They will also solve multiplication and division problems with numbers up to 100, like 81 ÷ 9. Third graders are not typically required to perform long division or multiply with multi-digit numbers. The only exception to this rule is that they're expected to multiply 1-digit numbers by 2-digit base ten numbers (3 x 20 or 50 x 6).

Third grade students must be able to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100, and they'll also need to understand the relationship between multiplication and division (for example, that 3 x 2 = 6 and 6 ÷ 2 = 3). In addition, your third grader will have to memorize the multiplication facts from 1 x 1 to 9 x 9. You can help your child prepare for his or her third grade math assessment by purchasing or creating custom flash cards.

Fractions

Students usually begin working with fractions in the third grade, but they only study those with the denominators 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8, such as 1/8 and 5/6. Students will need to recognize fractions as numbers and also represent fractions on a number line. Your third grader will compare fractions with like numerators or denominators (3/4 > 1/4) and express whole numbers as fractions (4 = 4/1). In addition, she will be introduced to equivalent fractions (for example, 1/2 = 2/4 and 6/8 = 3/4).

Measurement and Data

Students in the third grade must be able to write and tell time to the nearest minute, as well as measure the volumes of liquids and the masses of objects in appropriate units, like liters and kilograms. They should also understand the difference between area and perimeter and be able to measure both. Additionally, third graders learn to represent data using line plots, bar graphs and picture graphs.

Geometry

In third grade geometry, students learn to divide shapes into equal sections (for example, they might be asked to divide a square into 4 smaller squares). They also learn that shapes can be classified based on characteristics, like the number of sides they have.