Grade 3 Math: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 3 math in the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Number sense and number theory. Students will demonstrate number sense and apply number theory concepts.
- Operation sense. Students will demonstrate operation sense and apply operation principles and procedures in both numeric and algebraic situations.
- Patterns and relationships. Students will explore, recognize, represent and apply patterns and relationships, both informally and formally.
- Measurement. Students will demonstrate an understanding of and apply concepts and skills associated with measurement.
- Spatial sense. Students will demonstrate spatial sense and apply geometric concepts, properties and relationships.
- Data management. Students will solve problems involving the collection, display and analysis of data.
- Probability. Students will represent and solve problems involving uncertainty.
Easy ways to practise math at home
- Practise math facts in short bursts, such as five minutes while dinner cooks.
- Let your child handle small cash purchases, working out the change in multiples of 5¢.
- Cook together and double or halve a recipe.
- Ask “How do you know?” after an answer, even when it is right.
What each unit covers
Numbers to 1000
Reading, building, comparing and ordering numbers to 1000 as hundreds, tens and ones, including tricky zeros and regrouping (12 tens is 1 hundred and 2 tens).
Facts to 20
Building fast, flexible recall of addition and subtraction facts to 20 with strategies like making ten, near doubles, fact families and thinking addition to subtract.
Add & Subtract
Adding and subtracting 2- and 3-digit numbers by place value, number-line jumps and counting up, plus estimating by rounding to the nearest hundred.
Multiplication
Understanding multiplication as equal groups, arrays, repeated addition and skip counting. Easier sets use 2s, 5s and 10s; stretch sets go beyond 5 × 5.
Division
Understanding division as sharing fairly and as making equal groups, and using multiplication facts to divide (3 × 4 = 12, so 12 ÷ 3 = 4).
Fractions
Naming fractions of a shape, a set and a number line, knowing what the top and bottom numbers mean, and comparing fractions by the size of their parts.
Patterns & Equations
Extending increasing and decreasing patterns, describing pattern rules in words and tables, and solving one-step equations like ☐ + 8 = 23.
Measuring
Measuring with centimetres and metres, grams and kilograms, millilitres and litres: choosing sensible units, estimating, comparing and solving measurement problems.
Time
Telling time on an analog clock, working out start and end times, and knowing how seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years relate.
3D Objects
Naming 3D objects, counting their faces, edges and vertices, and thinking about how they are built from flat faces or from straws and clay.
Graphs & Chance
Reading pictographs and bar graphs where one symbol can stand for one vote or several, and describing how likely outcomes are with spinners, marbles and number cubes.
Area & Perimeter
Finding the perimeter (distance around) of rectangles and triangles, finding a missing side, and measuring area in square centimetres and square metres.
Sorting Polygons
Practises naming polygons by their number of sides and sorting them as regular (all sides and angles equal) or irregular.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Not Yet Achieving
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Good
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Excellent
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Newfoundland and Labrador report card guide.
Common questions
Practise math facts in short bursts, such as five minutes while dinner cooks. Let your child handle small cash purchases, working out the change in multiples of 5¢. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum Grade 3 math units include numbers to 1000, facts to 20, add & subtract, multiplication, division, fractions.
Free printable Grade 3 math practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.