3rd grade math: games and worksheets

3rd grade math: the year of multiplication

If one thing defines 3rd grade math, it is multiplication. By the end of the year the Common Core expects children to know all products of two one-digit numbers from memory and to divide within 100. That is a lot of facts, and it is why this page puts the times tables and division games first. But 3rd grade is also the year of fractions, area and perimeter, rounding, and adding and subtracting within 1,000. The list above shows the whole year, each skill linked to its game where there is one, and the math sheets for 3rd graders below print with an answer key.

What 3rd graders learn in math

In operations, children learn what multiplication and division mean (equal groups, arrays, sharing), learn the facts, and use properties: 3 × 8 = 8 × 3, and 7 × 8 can be split into 7 × 5 + 7 × 3. They solve two-step word problems with all four operations. In numbers, they round to the nearest 10 or 100, add and subtract within 1,000 fluently and multiply one-digit numbers by multiples of 10 (9 × 80). Fractions appear as numbers on a number line (1/4, 2/4, 3/4), with equal fractions and comparisons. In measurement, they tell time to the minute, work out elapsed time, find area by counting squares and by multiplying, and measure perimeter.

In England

A 3rd grader (age 8-9) is the age of a Year 4 pupil in England, the year of all times tables to 12 × 12 and the Multiplication Tables Check. The same printable sheets work as Year 4 maths sheets with practice questions.

Multiplication games for 3rd grade

The grade mix asks multiplication and division facts and sums within 1,000 in one round, with a keypad. Multiplication for third graders starts with the times tables, in the usual order: 2, 5 and 10, then 3, 4 and 8, then 6, 7 and 9. The speed test shows progress week by week, and the mixed times tables page checks all facts in random order. The printable "four in a row" game gives a class or a family a fun multiplication game on paper.

Helping a 3rd grader at home

The facts are the part that needs daily practice; everything else builds on them. Five minutes of the speed test after school (mental math for 3rd grade at its simplest), and the "work on these" list printed once a week as homework, will do more than an hour on Sunday. Let your child explain a strategy for a fact they don't know yet: "7 × 8 is 7 × 5 plus 7 × 3, so 35 + 21 = 56." Explaining is part of the 3rd grade standards. Keep the multiplication chart on the wall, and cross out each fact once it is fast in the speed test - children love watching the chart empty out.