3RD GRADE NUMBER

This page provides samples of 3rd grade number activities suitable for use in math centers, small group, or whole class settings. All activities are designed to elicit a range of responses and provide opportunities for students to communicate their reasoning and mathematical thinking. Download the sample activities under each standard or purchase the 3rd Grade Math Centers eBook and have all the Number, Geometry, Measurement and Data Centers you’ll need for the entire school year in one convenient digital file.

Teaching in a state that is implementing their own specific math standards?  Download our 3rd Grade Correlations document for cross-referenced tables outlining the alignment of each state's standards with the CCSS-M, as well as the page numbers in our 3rd Grade Math Centers eBook related to each standard. 

OPERATIONS AND ALGEBRAIC THINKING

Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division

3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g. interpret 5 x 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 x 7.
Sample Activities:
Array Picture Cards
Building Arrays
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Relate Addition and Multiplication
Equal Groups

3.OA.A.2 Interpret whole-number quotients of whole numbers, e.g. interpret 56÷8 as the number of objects in each share when 56 objects are partitioned equally into 8 shares, or as a number of shares when 56 objects are partitioned into equal shares of 8 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a number of shares or a number of groups can be expressed as 56 ÷ 8.
Sample Activity:
Identify the Unknown

3.OA.A.3 Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g. by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Sample Activities:
Word Problems: Arrays (Set 1)
Math Literature Link: One Hundred Hungry Ants
Math Literature Link: Six Dinner Sid
Math Literature Link: Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream
Math Literature Link: The Doorbell Rang
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Word Problems: Arrays (Set 2)
Word Problems: Equal Groups 
Word Problems: Size of Equal Groups
Word Problems: Number of Equal Groups
Equal Rows in a Marching Band
Sharing Marbles

3.OA.A.4 Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 x?=48, 5 = ?÷3, 6x6 =?
Sample Activity:
Missing Numbers: Division
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Missing Numbers: Multiplication

Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division

3.OA.B.5 Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide. Examples: If 6x4=24 is known then 4x6=24 is also known (Commutative property of multiplication.) 3x5x2 can be found by 3x5=15, then 15x2=30, or by 5x2=10, then 3x10=30 (Associative property of multiplication). Knowing that 8x5=40 and 8x2=16, one can find 8x7 as 8 x (5+2) = (8x5) + (8x2) = 40 +16 =56 (Distributive property).
Sample Activities:
Turn Your Array
Math Literature Link: Each Orange Had 8 Slices
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Decompose a Factor (v. 1)
Decompose a Factor (v. 2)

3.OA.B.6 Understand division as an unknown-factor problem. For example, find 32 ÷ 8 by finding the number that makes 32 when multiplied by 8. 
Sample Activity:
Division as an Unknown Factor (x5 & x10)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Division as an Unknown Factor (x1 & x2)
Division as an Unknown Factor (x3 & x6)
Division as an Unknown Factor (x4 & x8)
Division as an Unknown Factor (x7 & x9)

Multiply and divide within 100

3.OA.C.7 Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division (e.g., knowing that 8x5=40, one knows 40÷5=8) or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.
Sample Activities:
Multiplication Bump (x2 - x5)
Multiples Game (x2 - x 5)
Domino Multiplication
I Have ... Who Has? (x2 & x5)
I Have ... Who Has (x2 & x10)
I Have ... Who Has (x3 & x5)
Division Squares (divisors 2,5,10)
Six Sticks
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Multiplication Bump (x6 - x10)
Multiples Game (x6 - x10)
Multiplication Four in a Row (ver. 1-3)
Multiples Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check
I Have ... Who Has? (x3 & x7)
I Have ... Who Has? (x4 & x6)
I Have ... Who Has? (x4 & x10)
I Have ... Who Has? (x6 & x8)
I Have ... Who Has? (x7 & x9)
Multiply It!
Fill the Grid
Division Race 1 (divisors 2, 5, 10)
Division Race 2 (divisors 3,4,6)
Division Race 3 (divisors 7,8,9)
Division Squares (divisors 3,6,9)
Division Squares (divisors 4,7,8)
Division Bump (divisors 2-9)
Division Spin (divisors 2-10)

Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic

3.OA.D.8 Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
Sample Activities:
Word Problems: Two-Step (Set 2)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Word Problems: Two-Step (Set 1)

3.OA.D.9 Identify arithmetic patterns (including patterns in the addition table or multiplication table), and explain them using properties of operations. For example, observe that 4 times a number is always even, and explain why 4 times a number can be decomposed into two equal addends.
Sample Activities:
Roll a Rule (ver. 1)
Odd and Even Sums
Odd and Even Products
Patterns in the Multiplication Table
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Roll a Rule (v. 2) 
Create a Number Pattern (v. 1)
Create a Number Pattern (v. 2)
Patterns in the Addition Table
Drawing Multiplication Patterns

NUMBER AND OPERATIONS IN BASE TEN

Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic

3.NBT.A.1 Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
Sample Activities:
Round to the Nearest Ten
Estimating Sums (v. 1)
Estimating Differences (v. 1)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Round to the Nearest Hundred
What's the Nearest Ten?
What's the Nearest Hundred?
Estimating Sums (v. 2)
Estimating Differences (v. 2)

3.NBT.A.2 Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Sample Activities:
Word Problems: Addition and Subtraction within 1,000
Math Literature Link: 365 Penguins
3 Digit Addition Split
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Doubling to 1000
Add the Difference
Close to Zero (3-Digit)
3 Digit Subtraction Split

3.NBT.A.3 Multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range 10-90 (e.g., 9x80, 5x60) using strategies based on place value and properties of operations.
Sample Activities:
Multiples of Ten Multiply
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Multiply One-Digit Numbers by Multiples of 10

NUMBER AND OPERATIONS: FRACTIONS

Develop understanding of fractions as numbers

3.NF.A.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as a quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts: understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.
Possible Activities:
Making Fraction Strips (v. 1)
My Fraction Bar Riddle
Math Literature Link: Picture Pie (ver.1)
Math Literature Link: Gator Pie (ver. 1-2)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Making Fraction Strips (v. 2)
Representing Unit Fractions
Name the Length
Name the Fraction
Cuisenaire Fractions
Fraction Posters

3.NF.A.2 Understand a fraction as a number on the number line; represent fractions on a number line diagram.
a. Represent a fraction 1/b on a number line diagram by defining the interval from 0 to 1 as the whole and portioning it into b equal parts. Recognize that each part has size 1/b and that the endpoint of the part based at 0 locates the number 1/b on the number line.
Sample Activity:
Fractions on a Number Line

b. Represent a fraction a/b on a number line diagram by marking off a lengths 1/b from 0. Recognize that the resulting interval has size a/b and that its endpoint locates the number a/b on the number line.
Sample Activity:
Roll a Fraction

3.NF.A.3 Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.
a. Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size, or the same point on a number line. 
Sample Activity: 
Pizza for Dinner 

b. Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions e.g., ½ = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3) Explain why the fractions are equivalent, by using a visual model. 
Sample Activities:
Equivalent Fractions on a Geoboard
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Equivalent Fractions Exploration (v. 1)
Equivalent Fractions Exploration (v. 2)
Build Eight Hexagons

c. Express whole numbers as fractions, and recognize fractions that are equivalent to whole numbers. Examples: Express 3 in the form 3 = 3/1; recognize that 6/1 = 6; locate 4/4 and 1 at the same point of a number line diagram
Sample Activity:
Make One Whole (v. 1)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Make One Whole (v. 2)

d. Compare two fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or < and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.
Sample Activity:
Compare Fractions of a Whole (v. 1)
Also included in 3rd Grade Math Centers
Compare Fractions of a Whole (v. 2)
Who Ate More?