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    Nebraska 3rd Grade Curriculum & Standards Guide

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

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    Nebraska standards

    Math

    Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics

    State's own standards · adopted 2022

    Approved September 2, 2022. Nebraska never adopted Common Core; codes look like 3.N.1.a. Grade 3 place value goes to 10,000 and children add and subtract four-digit numbers (3.A.1.a), and there is no Grade 3 standard on rounding or on arithmetic patterns.

    Official standards

    English Language Arts

    Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts

    State's own standards · adopted 2021

    Approved September 2, 2021; codes look like LA.3.W.4.a. Concepts of print and phonological awareness are listed as mastered in Grade 2. Grade 3 writing names cursive among the formats of text children use or decipher (LA.3.W.2.e).

    Official standards

    Science

    Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science

    Based on the national science framework · adopted 2024

    Approved September 6, 2024, and built on the national K-12 science framework. Grade 3 keeps the national topics under Nebraska codes such as SC.3.1.1.a. Only one of the three engineering design expectations sits in Grade 3 (SC.3.7.2.e); the others are in Grades 4 and 5.

    Official standards

    Social Studies

    Nebraska Social Studies Standards (2019)

    State's own standards

    Approved November 8, 2019; codes look like SS 3.2.2.a. The Grade 3 theme is 'Communities Near and Far'. A revision ended in 2026 with the State Board keeping the 2019 standards as the adopted standards.

    Official standards

    Standard-by-standard crosswalk

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

    • Math: 6 same · 27 close · 2 partly · 2 not in Grade 3
    • English Language Arts: 27 same · 45 close · 7 partly · 11 not in Grade 3
    • Science: 15 same · 1 close · 0 partly · 2 not in Grade 3
    Open the Nebraska crosswalk

    Grade 3 differences

    1. In Nebraska

      Math: children read, write and compare numbers to 10,000 (3.N.1.a, 3.N.1.b) and add and subtract numbers of up to four digits (3.A.1.a). Third Grade works within 1,000.

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Math Week 1 (place value and rounding): add a day on four-digit numbers. Math Weeks 2-3 (add within 1,000; subtract within 1,000): finish each week with a few four-digit problems, and revisit them in Flex Week 5.

    2. In Nebraska

      Math: measurement problems use both customary and metric units for length, weight, mass, liquid volume and capacity (3.G.3.a).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Math Week 26 (mass and liquid volume): add two days with cups, quarts and gallons and with ounces and pounds alongside the metric units.

    3. In Nebraska

      ELA: children use or decipher several formats of text, including manuscript and cursive handwriting (LA.3.W.2.e). Third Grade does not teach cursive.

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      ELA Flex Weeks 5, 14, 23 and 32: have your child read a short passage written in cursive; add 10 minutes of cursive practice three days a week if you want your child to write it too.

    4. In Nebraska

      ELA: children use common prepositions and prepositional phrases (LA.3.W.1.g), identify an author's claims and how the author supports them (LA.3.RI.6), and practice safe and ethical behavior when communicating online (LA.3.W.6.e).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      ELA Week 13 (revise and edit): add prepositional phrases to sentences. ELA Week 24 (author's purpose and point of view): list an author's claims and the support for each. ELA Weeks 28-30 (research report): talk through safe and polite behavior online before researching.

    5. In Nebraska

      ELA: when researching, children put information from sources into their own words, use more than one source and give a list of their sources (LA.3.W.6.a, LA.3.W.6.d).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      ELA Week 17 (research basics) and Weeks 28-30 (research report): have your child take notes in their own words from at least two sources, and end the report with a list of the sources used.

    6. In Nebraska

      Social studies: children explain that people choose and decide what services they ask their local and state government to provide and pay for (SS 3.2.1.a).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Social Studies Week 19 (local government): list local and Nebraska state services and talk about how they are paid for.

    7. In Nebraska

      Social studies: children compare and contrast local places and regions with other places and regions (SS 3.3.2.b).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Social Studies Week 11 (five U.S. regions): compare your part of Nebraska with one other region.

    8. In Nebraska

      Social studies: children learn how patriotic symbols, songs and holidays are recognized in the local community, such as flag etiquette and the Pledge of Allegiance, and the background of national holidays (SS 3.1.2.b, SS 3.1.2.c).

      Suggested swap in Third Grade

      Social Studies Week 21 (citizens' rights and responsibilities): add a day on flag etiquette, the Pledge of Allegiance and the story behind one national holiday your community marks.

    Grade 3 public-school test

    Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS)

    NSCAS covers ELA, mathematics and science; check the page for the subjects 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. Nebraska homeschool page

    Sources

    Verified 2026-10-08