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    Arizona 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

    How Arizona's third grade standards line up with Third Grade.

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    Arizona standards

    Math

    Arizona Mathematics Standards

    Based on Common Core · adopted 2016

    Adopted in December 2016; the Grade 3 document was updated in January 2025. Codes follow the national pattern, for example 3.OA.D.8. Arizona adds money word problems, the order of operations and division facts from memory.

    Official standards

    English Language Arts

    Arizona English Language Arts Standards

    Based on Common Core · adopted 2016

    Adopted in December 2016; the Grade 3 document was updated in January 2025. Codes put the grade first, for example 3.RL.2. Grade 3 includes reading and writing cursive, and spelling sits in Writing Foundational Skills (3.WF.3) rather than in the Language standards.

    Official standards

    Science

    Arizona Science Standards

    State's own standards · adopted 2018

    Adopted in October 2018 and in force for 2026-27. Arizona's eight Grade 3 standards (3.P2U1.1 to 3.L2U1.8) cover light, sound, the Sun's energy, plant and animal structures and energy flow. The state's own comparison shows that none of them matches a Grade 3 national science standard.

    Official standards

    Social Studies

    Arizona History and Social Science Standards

    State standards informed by the national social studies framework

    Adopted on October 22, 2018. Grade 3 is Arizona Studies. Codes give the grade, strand and number, for example 3.C1.2 for a civics standard.

    Official standards

    Standard-by-standard crosswalk

    See every national third grade standard matched to Arizona's own codes.

    • Math: 28 same · 9 close · 0 partly · 0 not in Grade 3
    • English Language Arts: 81 same · 8 close · 0 partly · 1 not in Grade 3
    • Science: 0 same · 0 close · 0 partly · 18 not in Grade 3
    Open the Arizona crosswalk

    Grade 3 differences

    1. In Arizona

      Science: Arizona's eight Grade 3 standards cover how light and the eye let us see, sound waves, how light and sound carry energy, the Sun as Earth's main energy source, plant and animal body structures, how living things react to light or touch, and energy flow among living things (3.P2U1.1 to 3.L2U1.8).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Science flex Weeks 5, 14, 23 and 32: run light, sound and Sun-energy investigations. Science Week 11 (habitats): add plant and animal body parts and their jobs, and how living things react to light or touch. Weeks 10-12 (ecosystems; habitats; food chains) already cover energy flow.

    2. In Arizona

      Science: none of the national Grade 3 science topics is an Arizona Grade 3 standard. Arizona places life cycles in Grade 1 (1.L1U1.6); magnets, fossils, and weather and climate patterns (4.E1U1.8) in Grade 4; and force and motion (5.P3U1.4) and inherited traits in Grade 5.

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Science Weeks 1-8 (forces and magnets), 19-26 (weather and climate) and 28-34 (traits and fossils): these units go beyond Arizona's Grade 3 list. Keep them if you like, or shorten them to make room for the light, sound and energy work above.

    3. In Arizona

      Social studies: Grade 3 is Arizona Studies: Arizona from prehistoric times to today, including its 22 Indian Nations, geography, economy, the Arizona Constitution and state, local and tribal government (3.C1.1 to 3.C3.2, 3.G1.1 to 3.G4.1, 3.H1.1 to 3.H3.2). Children also describe how people, goods and ideas move in and out of Arizona (3.G3.1, 3.E2.2).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Social Studies Week 17 (state project): choose Arizona. Weeks 6 and 12 (Native peoples; Native nations across regions): study Arizona's 22 Indian Nations. Weeks 19-20 (local government; three branches): add the Arizona Constitution and state and tribal government. Week 13 (movement and trade): trace goods and ideas moving between Arizona, Mexico and other states.

    4. In Arizona

      Math: children solve money word problems up to $20.00 using the dollar sign, decimal point and cent sign (3.MD.A.1.b). The program does not teach money.

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Math flex Week 23 or 32: add money word problems up to $20.00 written with the dollar sign, decimal point and cent sign.

    5. In Arizona

      ELA: children read and write upper- and lowercase cursive letters and write legibly in both cursive and print (3.WF.1.a, 3.WF.1.b). The program does not teach cursive.

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      ELA Weeks 1-36 (weekly word study): add about 10 minutes of cursive practice daily, including copying sentences in cursive.

    6. In Arizona

      Math: children use the order of operations (without parentheses) in two-step word problems (3.OA.D.8), and checking an answer by estimating and rounding is its own standard (3.OA.D.10).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Math Week 15 (two-step problems): add the order of operations for problems without parentheses, and have your child estimate each answer first, then check that the result is reasonable.

    7. In Arizona

      Math: children know from memory the division facts that match the multiplication facts through 10 x 10 (3.OA.C.7), and place fractions greater than 1 on a number line (3.NF.A.2.b).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Math Week 11 (division facts): practice division facts until your child knows them from memory. Math Week 20 (fractions on a number line): include fractions greater than 1, such as 5/4.

    8. In Arizona

      Social studies: children tell primary sources from secondary sources, make timelines of related events and explain why people see the same event differently (3.SP3.2, 3.SP1.1, 3.SP2.1).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Social Studies Weeks 7-8 (explorers and settlers; how our community began): build a timeline of Arizona events, and compare a primary source, such as an old photograph or letter, with a book's account of the same event.

    Grade 3 public-school test

    Arizona's Academic Standards Assessment (AASA)

    Given in English language arts and math in Grades 3-8. Grade 3 also has an oral reading fluency unit.

    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

    Verified 2026-10-08