Alabama 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

Alabama standards

Math

2019 Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics

Based on Common Core · adopted 2019

Adopted in December 2019. Grade 3 focuses on multiplication and division within 100 and on fractions as numbers, the same focus as Third Grade. Standards are numbered 1 to 26 within the grade with lettered parts, for example 16a, a simple probability standard that Alabama adds.

Official standards

English Language Arts

2021 Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts

State's own standards · adopted 2021

In effect since 2022-23. Standards are numbered within the grade, for example 8f for prefixes, suffixes and roots. Cursive is a Grade 3 standard (31), and the course of study cites Lexi's Law (Act 2016-352), which requires cursive to be taught by the end of Grade 3.

Official standards

Science

2023 Alabama Course of Study: Science

Based on the national science framework · adopted 2023

Adopted in December 2023. Grade 3 covers forces and magnets, life cycles, inherited traits, fossils, biodiversity, weather, climate and natural hazards, which closely matches Third Grade. Standards are numbered 1 to 15, and engineering is built into them rather than listed separately: in Grade 3 it is standard 4, a magnet problem.

Official standards

Social Studies

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies

State's own standards

Adopted in December 2024; the state page still lists the 2010 course beside it and we found no official statement of the school year the new course becomes required. Grade 3 is 'Alabama in American History and Government I: Geography and Settlement', standards 1 to 11. It has no Grade 3 standards on government, voting, economics or personal finance, so those Third Grade weeks go beyond it.

Official standards

Grade 3 differences

1. In Alabama

   Social studies: Grade 3 is a year of Alabama study. Children use map skills to locate features, learn Alabama's land regions, rivers and resources, and compare Alabama with other states (standards 1 and 2).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 3-4 (maps and globes; landforms, water and resources): work from an Alabama map. Trace its rivers and regions and find the states it borders. Weeks 10-11 (U.S. geography; five U.S. regions): compare Alabama with other states.

2. In Alabama

   Social studies: children study Indigenous cultures of the Southeast, the reasons for European expeditions, and early colonization, including French settlement of Alabama (standards 8 to 11).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 6-7 (Native peoples; explorers and settlers): focus on the Native nations of the Southeast and on European expeditions into Alabama, including de Soto and French settlement.

3. In Alabama

   Social studies: children research state and national parks and locate state and national symbols, landmarks and monuments (standards 3 and 4).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 17 (state project): choose Alabama, and include its symbols, a landmark or monument, and one state or national park.

4. In Alabama

   ELA: cursive is a Grade 3 standard: children write legibly in cursive with connected, correctly formed letters and proper spacing (standard 31). Alabama law also requires cursive to be taught by the end of Grade 3.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   ELA, all year: add about 10 minutes of cursive practice a day so that cursive is in place by Week 36.

5. In Alabama

   Math: Alabama adds simple probability in Grade 3: children find a simple probability from a situation shown in a picture (standard 16a). The national standards have no Grade 3 probability.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Math Week 35 (scaled picture and bar graphs): add a few picture problems, such as the chance of picking a red marble from a bag shown in a drawing.

6. In Alabama

   Social studies: children explain how natural disasters such as droughts, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes have affected people, the economy and the land, and how people's actions have helped and harmed Alabama's environment (standards 5 and 6).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Week 21 (severe weather): add one Alabama natural disaster and how it affected people, jobs and the land. Social Studies Week 4 (landforms, water and resources): add one example each of conservation and pollution in Alabama.

7. In Alabama

   Social studies: children compare and contrast what anthropologists, archaeologists and paleontologists do (standard 7).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Week 33 (fossils): add a short comparison of what anthropologists, archaeologists and paleontologists do.

8. In Alabama

   ELA: Alabama names commonly confused homophones, such as hear and here, in Grade 3 reading, vocabulary and spelling (standards 8h, 14d and 32e).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   ELA weekly word study, from Week 1: add a pair of homophones every week or two and have your child use context to choose the right spelling.

Grade 3 public-school test

Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) Summative

Given in Grades 2-8. Grade 3 takes English language arts and math; science testing starts in Grade 4.

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

• Academic Standards (Courses of Study) · Alabama State Department of Education
• 2019 Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics · Alabama State Department of Education
• 2021 Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts · Alabama State Department of Education
• 2023 Alabama Course of Study: Science · Alabama State Department of Education
• 2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · Alabama State Department of Education
• Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) · Alabama State Department of Education

Verified 2026-10-08