States · LA
Louisiana 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide
How Louisiana's third grade standards line up with Third Grade.
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Louisiana standards
- Math
Louisiana Student Standards for Mathematics
Based on Common Core · adopted 2016
The 2016 standards are in force for 2026-27; codes are written like 3.OA.A.1. Louisiana adds money word problems and longer elapsed time to Grade 3 and moves the area of shapes made of rectangles to Grade 4 (4.MD.D.8). Revised standards approved in March 2026, with codes such as 3.NOF.A.1, are scheduled for full use in 2027-28 and add comparing numbers up to 100,000 (3.AR.D.9).
- English Language Arts
Louisiana Student Standards for English Language Arts
Based on Common Core · adopted 2016
Adopted in 2016 and in force for 2026-27. Grade 3 codes are written like RL.3.1 and the standards match the national ones almost word for word. Revised K-12 ELA standards announced in April 2026 take effect in 2027-28 and keep handwriting, including cursive, as part of literacy.
- Science
Louisiana Student Standards for Science
Based on the national science framework · adopted 2017
Issued in 2017 as Bulletin 1962. Grade 3 has 15 expectations, written like 3-PS2-1 and worded like the national ones, but no separate engineering design standards; design work appears only inside 3-PS2-4, 3-LS4-4 and 3-ESS3-1.
- Social Studies
Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies
State's own standards
Approved in 2022 and used since 2023-24. Grade 3 is 'The American Story: People, Places, and Papers': U.S. history (standards 3.1 to 3.9), civics (3.10 to 3.14), economics (3.15 to 3.18) and geography (3.19 to 3.28).
Standard-by-standard crosswalk
See every national third grade standard matched to Louisiana's own codes.
- Math: 32 same · 4 close · 0 partly · 1 not in Grade 3
- English Language Arts: 88 same · 2 close · 0 partly · 0 not in Grade 3
- Science: 15 same · 0 close · 2 partly · 1 not in Grade 3
Grade 3 differences
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 is 'The American Story: People, Places, and Papers'. Its history standards run from the American Revolution to the Space Race and ask children to keep timelines (3.1, 3.7); it also has civics, economics and geography standards that overlap Third Grade's government and economics weeks.
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Weeks 7-8 (explorers and settlers; how our community began) and Week 20 (three branches): start an 'American story' timeline with the American Revolution and the founding documents, then extend it to the Space Race in Flex Weeks 14, 23 and 32.
In Louisiana
Math: Grade 3 adds word problems with pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and bills, using the dollar and cent symbols correctly (3.MD.E.9). Third Grade does not teach money.
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Math Weeks 2-3 (add within 1,000; subtract within 1,000): add a few word problems each week with coins and whole-dollar bills, writing the dollar and cent symbols.
In Louisiana
Math: Grade 3 adds elapsed time longer than 60 minutes, to the nearest quarter hour and half hour, worked out on a number line (3.MD.A.1.b).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Math Week 25 (time): add a day of elapsed-time problems longer than one hour, drawn as jumps on a number line.
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 includes the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition among the major events children explain (3.7).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Week 10 (U.S. geography): trace the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark route on a U.S. map.
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 covers the end of slavery after the Civil War, the women's suffrage movement and the Civil Rights Movement (3.7), and why the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment matter (3.12).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Weeks 21-22 (citizens' rights and responsibilities; voting): add the Emancipation Proclamation, the Thirteenth Amendment, women's suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement through picture books or short biographies.
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 expects children to know more than 20 named Americans, state and national holidays including Mardi Gras and Juneteenth, American symbols, and monuments and natural landmarks (3.6a to 3.6e).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Week 15 (culture): study the holidays and American symbols. Week 10 (U.S. geography): add monuments and natural landmarks to the map. Read one short biography of a named American in each of Flex Weeks 14, 23 and 32.
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 covers how inventions such as the steam engine, railroad, airplane, automobile, electricity, telephone, radio, television and digital technology changed life in the United States (3.9).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Week 13 (movement and trade): add an inventions timeline from the steam engine to digital technology.
In Louisiana
Social studies: Grade 3 asks children to use primary and secondary sources, make claims backed by evidence and describe the other side of an argument (3.3, 3.4).
Suggested swap in Third Grade
Social Studies Week 8 (how our community began): put one primary source, such as an old photo or letter, beside a book written later about the same event. Ask what each one tells you, then have your child make one claim and point to the evidence for it.
Grade 3 public-school test
LEAP (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program), including LEAP Social Studies Grade 3
LDOE's guide says all public-school students in Grades 3 and 4 take the LEAP social studies test, and that from 2027-28 the Grade 3 social studies test will cover kindergarten through Grade 3 content.
Shown for context. Homeschool testing rules are separate; see below.
Homeschool rules
Check your state's current homeschool rules with its education department. Louisiana homeschool page
Sources
- 2016 K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for Math · Louisiana Department of Education
- K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for Mathematics Frequently Asked Questions · Louisiana Department of Education
- K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for ELA · Louisiana Department of Education
- Louisiana strengthens classroom focus on the science of reading, grammar, and cursive writing · Louisiana Department of Education
- Bulletin 1962, Louisiana Science Content Standards · Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Grade 3 crosswalk of the Louisiana science standards to the national science standards · Louisiana Department of Education
- 2022 K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies · Louisiana Department of Education
- BESE Policy page (bulletin list and adoption dates) · Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
- LEAP Assessment Guide for Social Studies, Grades 3-4 · Louisiana Department of Education
- Home Study · Louisiana Department of Education
Verified 2026-10-08