Delaware 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

Delaware standards

Math

Delaware Content Standards in Mathematics (Common Core State Standards)

Common Core · adopted 2010

State regulation makes the Common Core Delaware's math standards from the 2010-11 school year, so Grade 3 math matches Third Grade.

Official standards

English Language Arts

Delaware ELA/Literacy Standards (Common Core State Standards)

Common Core · adopted 2010

The Common Core, in effect since the 2010-11 school year. Grade 3 matches Third Grade. Delaware adds no handwriting standard, but a 2017 state law requires public elementary schools to teach cursive by the end of Grade 4.

Official standards

Science

Delaware science standards (the national science standards)

National science standards · adopted 2013

Delaware adopted the national science standards in 2013, in effect from 2013-14. Grade 3 covers forces, life cycles and traits, ecosystems and fossils, weather and climate, and engineering design, as in Third Grade. Delaware prints the engineering codes without the middle hyphen, for example 3-5ETS1-1.

Official standards

Social Studies

Delaware Social Studies Standards: Civics, Economics, Geography and History

State's own standards

Delaware sets no Grade 3 topics: 19 benchmarks in civics, economics, geography and history are to be met by the end of Grade 3, written like Geography Standard One K-3a, and districts choose the curriculum. The Department gives no adoption year for them. Five separate K-3 financial literacy benchmarks took effect in 2018-19; Third Grade already teaches two of them in Weeks 30-31.

Official standards

Grade 3 differences

1. In Delaware

   Social studies: by the end of Grade 3, children use artifacts and documents to gather information about the past (History Standard Two K-3a) and understand that accounts of the past are built by drawing logical inferences from them (History Standard Three K-3a). These are K-3 benchmarks, not Grade 3-only standards.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 8 (how our community began): study one old object and one old document, such as a photograph or letter, write what each tells you about the past, and say what you had to infer. For the Week 17 state project, choose Delaware.

2. In Delaware

   Social studies: by the end of Grade 3, children use clocks, calendars, schedules and written records to record or locate events in time (History Standard One K-3a). Third Grade does not teach this in social studies.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 7 (explorers and settlers): make a dated timeline of five events from the week's lessons, and keep a one-week calendar or schedule of your own. Math Week 25 (time) covers reading clocks.

3. In Delaware

   Financial literacy: by the end of Grade 3, understand that planning for possible and unexpected risks can reduce personal loss or harm. This is a K-3 benchmark (Financial Literacy Standard Four K-3). Third Grade teaches saving, spending and giving but not risk.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 31 (save, spend, give): add a day on emergency savings and how insurance protects a family from an unexpected loss.

4. In Delaware

   Financial literacy: by the end of Grade 3, understand that different jobs require different skills, and set goals and make a plan to reach them. These are K-3 benchmarks (Financial Literacy Standard One K-3a and K-3b).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 30 (earning, banks and budgets): match three jobs to the skills they need, then set one savings goal and write the steps to reach it.

5. In Delaware

   Social studies: several Third Grade topics are grades 4-5 benchmarks in Delaware, not K-3: the three branches of government (Civics Standard One 4-5b), Native American inhabitants and exploration and settlement (History Standard Four 4-5a), producers, consumers and supply and demand (Economics Standard One 4-5a and 4-5b) and banks (Economics Standard Two 4-5a).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 6-7, 12, 20, 25-26 and 30 (Native peoples; explorers and settlers; Native nations across regions; three branches; producers and consumers; scarcity and markets; earning, banks and budgets): teach as written. No change is needed, but expect Delaware schools to return to these topics in Grades 4 and 5.

Grade 3 public-school test

Smarter Balanced ELA and Mathematics assessments (part of Delaware's DeSSA testing program)

Grade 3 public-school students take the state ELA and math tests (grades 3-8). Science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and social studies from Grade 4, so neither is tested in Grade 3.

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. Delaware homeschool page

Sources

• Delaware Social Studies Standards · Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware K-12 History Standards (Word file; K-3 benchmarks) · Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware K-12 Financial Literacy Standards (January 2018) · Delaware Department of Education
• 14 DE Admin. Code 501 State Content Standards · Delaware Department of Education
• Laws of Delaware, Volume 81, Chapter 153 (House Bill 70): cursive writing by the end of Grade 4 · Delaware General Assembly
• Unit Topical Arrangement of the science standards, grades 3-10 (Grade 3 section) · Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware ELA/Literacy Assessments · Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware Social Studies Assessments · Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware Science Assessments · Delaware Department of Education
• Homeschools and Private Schools · Delaware Department of Education

Verified 2026-10-08