Hawaii 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

Hawaii standards

Math

Hawaii Common Core Standards for Mathematics

Common Core · adopted 2010

The 2010 standards, adopted by the Board of Education on June 17, 2010, apply in 2026-27 and match Third Grade. A revised Hawaii version was approved in 2026 and reaches elementary schools in 2027-28. Its Grade 3 text has 25 standards written without the cluster letter (3.OA.1 rather than 3.OA.A.1).

Official standards

English Language Arts

Hawaii Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

Based on Common Core · adopted 2024

A 2024 revision of the 2010 Common Core, in effect from 2024-25 and in full use from 2025-26. Codes put the grade first (3.RL.1), and a separate Writing Foundations strand (3.WF.1 to 3.WF.3) holds handwriting, spelling, capitalization and punctuation. There is no cursive standard; Grade 3 handwriting is legible, fluent print (3.WF.1.a).

Official standards

Science

Hawaii science standards (the national science standards)

National science standards · adopted 2016

The Board of Education adopted the national science standards on February 16, 2016. Grade 3 covers forces, life cycles and traits, ecosystems and fossils, and weather and climate, as in Third Grade.

Official standards

Social Studies

Hawaii Core Standards for Social Studies (HCSSS)

State standards informed by the national social studies framework

Approved by the Board of Education on October 4, 2018 and phased in from 2019-20; informed by the national C3 Framework. Grade 3 is 'Our Big World': rules and laws, citizens' rights and responsibilities, migration, and our changing world, with codes such as SS.3.4.16.3. Early Hawaiian history is Grade 4.

Official standards

Grade 3 differences

1. In Hawaii

   Social studies: children connect historical events on a timeline, including Pacific migration and the settling of Hawaii alongside the settling of the Americas, the colonization of New England and the forced migration of Africans (SS.3.3.17.5).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 6-7 (Native peoples; explorers and settlers): add Pacific voyaging and the settling of Hawaii, and put all the migrations on one timeline. Week 17 state project: choose Hawaii.

2. In Hawaii

   Social studies: analyze the effects of disasters on people around the world, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, sea level rise, tornadoes, tsunami and volcanoes (SS.3.4.16.3). Third Grade covers only severe weather, in science.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Week 21 (severe weather): add earthquakes, tsunami and volcanoes, and read about how one community elsewhere in the world recovered from a disaster.

3. In Hawaii

   Social studies: how a community's environment changes over time in different world regions (SS.3.4.14.2), and how people deal with limited resources such as fossil fuels, minerals and water (SS.3.4.9.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 4 (landforms, water and resources): compare how two places in different world regions have changed; Week 29 (resource maps): list ways to save water and fuel.

4. In Hawaii

   Social studies: assess how reliable and accurate differing historical accounts are, including fact versus opinion and the same event told from more than one point of view (SS.3.4.18.4).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 7 (explorers and settlers): read two accounts of the same event and decide which parts are fact and which are opinion; ELA Week 25 (two texts) gives more practice.

5. In Hawaii

   Social studies: explain how groups have worked to bring change in American society and how people can change rules and laws, and describe the difference between authority and power (SS.3.1.19.3, SS.3.1.8.1, SS.3.1.7.2).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Weeks 33-34 (civic action): study one group that changed a law, and talk about who has authority in your community and where it comes from.

6. In Hawaii

   Social studies: children explain the role of money in making exchange easier (SS.3.1.10.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 24 (economics basics): compare trading goods directly with using money, and talk about why money makes exchange easier; Week 30 (earning, banks and budgets) gives more practice.

7. In Hawaii

   ELA: children write legibly and fluently in print (3.WF.1.a) and identify the language a word comes from, as shown in a dictionary (3.WF.2.d). Third Grade has no handwriting lessons.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   All year: add 10 minutes of neat print handwriting two or three days a week, starting in ELA Week 1. In weekly word study, look up one word a week in a dictionary and find the language it comes from.

8. In Hawaii

   ELA: stories are read for their theme (3.RL.2.a) and opinion writing supports a 'claim' with reasons (3.W.1), where the national standards say central message and opinion.

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   ELA Week 4 (folktales, fables, myths): use the word 'theme' when you talk about a story's message; ELA Week 8 (opinion writing) and Weeks 19-21 (opinion essay): call the opinion a 'claim'.

Grade 3 public-school test

Smarter Balanced Assessments (English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics)

Grade 3 public-school students take Smarter Balanced tests in ELA and math (grades 3-8 and 11). Science is tested in grades 5 and 8. Hawaiian immersion students take KAEO instead.

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. Hawaii homeschool page

Sources

• Subject Matter Standards · Hawaii State Department of Education
• Hawaii Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (K-12 document linked from the Department's standards page) · Hawaii State Department of Education
• Committee Action on the Revised Hawaii Common Core Standards for ELA (April 11, 2024) · Hawaii State Board of Education
• Hawaii State Mathematics: Standards · Hawaii State Department of Education
• Hawaii State Mathematics: K-6 Grade Level PDFs (2026 revision; not in force until 2027-28) · Hawaii State Department of Education
• Third grade performance expectations of the national science standards (site linked from the Department's standards page) · National science standards site
• Hawaii Core Standards for Social Studies, Grade 3 · Hawaii State Department of Education
• Hawaii Core Standards in Social Studies: Preface · Hawaii State Department of Education
• General Business Meeting Minutes, October 4, 2018 (Board approves the Hawaii Core Standards in Social Studies) · Hawaii State Board of Education
• General Business Meeting Minutes, June 17, 2010 (Board adopts the 2010 mathematics and English language arts standards) · Hawaii State Board of Education

Verified 2026-10-08