Mississippi 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

Mississippi standards

Math

2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Mathematics

Based on Common Core · adopted 2025

An update of the 2016 standards, required from 2025-26, with Common Core structure and a small number of Mississippi edits. In Grade 3 the edits add whole dollar amounts to adding, subtracting and word problems (3.NBT.2, 3.OA.8) and limit division to cases with no remainder (3.OA.6, 3.OA.7). Codes have no cluster letter, as in 3.OA.1.

Official standards

English Language Arts

2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for English Language Arts

Based on Common Core · adopted 2025

A targeted revision of the 2016 standards, required from 2025-26. There is no separate cursive or handwriting standard, but Grade 3 standard L.3.1 names cursive: children show command of grammar and usage when 'printing, cursive, or keyboarding'. Third Grade does not teach cursive.

Official standards

Science

2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science

State's own standards · adopted 2026

Approved by the State Board on July 23, 2026; the document gives 2026-27 as its effective school year and replaces the 2018 standards. The Grade 3 theme is still 'Interactions within an Environment', with 33 objectives written like P.3.5.1. Grade 3 has no weather, climate or life cycle objectives; those come in Grade 4.

Official standards

Social Studies

2022 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Social Studies

State standards informed by the national social studies framework

The 2022 revision, used in schools from 2023-24. The Grade 3 theme is 'Citizenship in Local Government', with 14 standards written like 3.CI.2; Mississippi Studies comes in Grade 4.

Official standards

Grade 3 differences

1. In Mississippi

   Science: Grade 3 earth science is rocks, Earth's layers, landforms, weathering and erosion, Earth's four systems, fresh and salt water, and renewable and nonrenewable resources, with Mississippi examples such as Red Bluff in Marion County (E.3.7A.1, E.3.7A.2, E.3.7B.1, E.3.7B.3, E.3.7B.4, E.3.9.1, E.3.9.2, E.3.9.3, E.3.10.1, E.3.10.2).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Weeks 19-22 (weather tools; climate; severe weather; climate regions): use these weeks for the three types of rock, Earth's layers, erosion with a Mississippi example, Earth's four systems and sorting resources as renewable or nonrenewable. Science Week 33 (fossils) already fits.

2. In Mississippi

   Science: Grade 3 includes states of matter, heat and particles (P.3.5.1, P.3.5.2, P.3.5.3) and how the body parts of animals and the parts of plants help them survive and grow (L.3.1.1, L.3.1.2).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Weeks 5 and 14 (flex weeks): add a melting, freezing and evaporating investigation with a simple particle model. Science Week 15 (life cycles): study how animal body parts and plant parts help living things survive.

3. In Mississippi

   Science: several topics the program teaches in Grade 3 come later in Mississippi: life cycles, weather data, regional climates and severe weather in Grade 4 (L.4.2.1, E.4.9B.1, E.4.9B.2, E.4.9C.5), and predicting motion and balanced and unbalanced forces in Grade 5 (P.5.6.2, P.5.6.4).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Science Week 2 (balanced and unbalanced forces), Week 6 (motion patterns) and Weeks 24-25 (building a weather instrument; forecasting): treat these as optional previews and give the time to the Grade 3 earth and matter topics above.

4. In Mississippi

   Social studies: Grade 3 is 'Citizenship in Local Government'. Children learn the three branches of government at the federal, state and local levels (3.CI.2) and investigate how local governments get and use money to benefit their communities (3.E.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 19 (local government): stretch it into Flex Week 23 with a visit to city hall or the county courthouse, and add a lesson on local taxes and the services they pay for. Week 20 (three branches): chart the branches at the local, Mississippi and federal levels.

5. In Mississippi

   Social studies: children compare types of government in history, such as monarchy, dictatorship and democracy (3.H.1), and study the Declaration of Independence and First Amendment liberties (3.CR.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 20 (three branches): add a day comparing a monarchy, a dictatorship and a democracy. Week 21 (citizens' rights and responsibilities): read about the Declaration of Independence and the liberties in the First Amendment.

6. In Mississippi

   Social studies: children study natural disasters and how governments manage them (3.G.2), renewable and nonrenewable energy sources (3.G.3), trade, imports and exports (3.E.2) and population patterns on maps and graphs (3.G.4).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Social Studies Week 13 (movement and trade): add imports and exports. Week 29 (resource maps): sort energy sources as renewable or nonrenewable and read a population map. Week 19 (local government): add how local, state and national governments respond to a natural disaster.

7. In Mississippi

   ELA: the Grade 3 grammar standard names cursive as one of the ways children write: 'printing, cursive, or keyboarding' (L.3.1).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   ELA weekly word study (all 36 weeks): add a few minutes of cursive practice daily, starting with the week's spelling words.

8. In Mississippi

   Math: adding, subtracting and two-step word problems include whole dollar amounts, and subtracting across zeros is named (3.NBT.2, 3.OA.8).

   Suggested swap in Third Grade

   Math Weeks 2-3 (add within 1,000; subtract within 1,000) and Week 15 (two-step problems): include problems with whole dollar amounts, such as $350 - $125, and practice subtracting from numbers like 400 and 603.

Grade 3 public-school test

Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP), Grade 3 ELA and mathematics

Students in Grades 3-8 are assessed in ELA and math.

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. Mississippi homeschool page

Sources

• Grade 3 Suggested Instructional Planning Guide: Citizenship in Local Government (2024) · Mississippi Department of Education
• Social Studies · Mississippi Department of Education
• Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Social Studies (final filing, January 25, 2023) · Mississippi Department of Education
• 2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (State Board approved July 23, 2026) · Mississippi Department of Education
• 2025 Mississippi CCRS for English Language Arts · Mississippi Department of Education
• 2025 Mississippi CCRS for Mathematics · Mississippi Department of Education
• 7 Miss. Admin. Code Part 135: 2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Mathematics (administrative code copy) · Mississippi Secretary of State / Mississippi Department of Education
• MAAP · Mississippi Department of Education

Verified 2026-10-08