Alaska 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

Alaska standards

Math

Alaska Mathematics Standards

Based on Common Core · adopted 2012

Adopted in 2012. Grade 3 has the same domains as the Common Core, but Alaska adds two measurement and data standards and renumbers that domain 1 to 10. Codes have no cluster letter: perimeter, for example, is 3.MD.10.

Official standards

English Language Arts

Alaska English/Language Arts Standards

Based on Common Core · adopted 2012

Adopted in June 2012. Codes match the national ones (for example RI.3.2), but Alaska reworded some standards, adding author's purpose, inferences and predictions, and summarizing in sequence. There is no cursive standard.

Official standards

Science

K-12 Science Standards for Alaska

National science standards · adopted 2019

The Department lists these as adopted in 2019. The Grade 3 expectations are the same as the national science standards, with the same codes (for example 3-PS2-1): forces, life cycles, environmental effects on organisms, inherited traits, and weather and climate.

Official standards

Social Studies

Alaska Social Studies Standards

State standards informed by the national social studies framework

Adopted in December 2024; the Department pages we read do not say by which school year districts must teach them. The standards say they incorporate the C3 Framework. The Grade 3 theme is 'Alaska's Past, Present, and Future', so the whole year is set in Alaska, with codes written like SS.3.2.8.1.

Official standards

Grade 3 differences

1. In Alaska

   Social studies: children explain the origins, functions and structure of state and Tribal governments and the roles of local, Tribal and state leaders, and describe how Alaska's laws are created and changed (SS.3.5.6.1, SS.3.1.6.1, SS.3.2.8.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 19-20 (local government; three branches): add Tribal governments and Alaska's state government, and trace how a state law is made or changed.

2. In Alaska

   Social studies: children analyze how Alaska Native groups use and have used natural resources, and explore the cultures of Alaska, including why and how Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups first came to Alaska (SS.3.1.15.1, SS.3.1.25.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 6 and 12 (Native peoples; Native nations across regions): focus on Alaska Native groups and how they use natural resources. Weeks 15-16 (culture; immigration): cover why and how different groups first came to Alaska.

3. In Alaska

   Social studies: history is Alaska history and is studied through sources. Children use primary and secondary sources to explain significant events, make timelines of eras, and explain why Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples see events differently (SS.3.1.22.1, SS.3.1.23.1, SS.3.2.21.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 7-8 (explorers and settlers; how our community began) and Week 17 (state project): choose Alaska, build a timeline of its history, read one or two primary sources, and talk about how different groups saw the same event.

4. In Alaska

   Social studies: children explain how Alaska's government pays for the goods and services it provides, list situations in which people might borrow money, and define unemployment (SS.3.3.13.1, SS.3.1.13.1, SS.3.2.13.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 30 (earning, banks and budgets): add how the state pays for public services, when people borrow money, and what unemployment means.

5. In Alaska

   Social studies: children describe how natural and human-made catastrophic events in Alaska, such as the 1964 earthquake and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, affect people living outside Alaska, and how such events affect where people settle and move in Alaska (SS.3.3.17.1, SS.3.3.19.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 13 (movement and trade): study the 1964 earthquake or the Exxon Valdez oil spill, how it affected people outside Alaska, and how it changed where Alaskans live. Science Week 21 (severe weather) is another good place for it.

6. In Alaska

   Math: Alaska has two Grade 3 standards the national list does not: choosing a sensible unit to estimate length, time, weight or temperature (3.MD.3), and explaining how data is sorted in graphs using the words minimum and maximum (3.MD.6).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Math Week 26 (mass and liquid volume): add estimating with a sensible unit for length, time, weight and temperature. Math Week 35 (scaled picture and bar graphs): have your child name the minimum and maximum and explain how the data is sorted.

7. In Alaska

   Math: children create, as well as solve, two-step word problems and one-step mass and volume problems (3.OA.8, 3.MD.2).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Math Week 15 (two-step problems) and Week 26 (mass and liquid volume): have your child write a few word problems of their own and solve them.

8. In Alaska

   ELA: Alaska's reading standards add making predictions and summarizing a text in correct sequence, and opinion writing must use fact-based or text-based reasons (RL.3.1, RI.3.1, RL.3.2, RI.3.2, W.3.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   ELA Weeks 1-3 (story elements; characters; questions and evidence) and Week 7 (main idea): ask for a prediction before reading and a retelling in the right order afterwards. ELA Weeks 19-21 (opinion essay): back each reason with a fact or a detail from a text.

Grade 3 public-school test

AK STAR (Alaska System of Academic Readiness)

Given in English language arts and math in Grades 3-9.

About this test

Shown for context. Homeschool testing rules are separate; see below.

Homeschool rules

Check your state's current homeschool rules with its education department.

Sources

• Alaska Content Standards · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska Mathematics Standards · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska Mathematics Standards Grade 3 · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska English/Language Arts Standards · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska English/Language Arts Standards Grade 3 · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• K-12 Science Standards for Alaska · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• K-12 Science Standards for Alaska, 3rd Grade · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Alaska Social Studies Standards (2024) · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• Social Studies K-5 Standards spreadsheet (2025-04-28) · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
• AK STAR · Alaska Department of Education & Early Development

Verified 2026-10-08