Year 3 Teaching Resources
Explore printable worksheets, digital activities, games and more Year 3 resources, all aligned to the Australian curriculum! The teacher-created resources have all been designed with primary teachers and students in mind to meet the special needs of children as they transition into the middle years of their primary school education.
Carefully curated and thoroughly reviewed by the expert teachers of the Teach Starter team to ensure they're classroom-ready, our Year 3 resources can save you lesson planning time this school year with editable and differentiated options at the ready.
Teach Starter’s Year 3 resources utilise a vast array of resource types and have something for every learning area. Here's just a taste of what you'll find for your classroom!
- Spelling words and English worksheets
- Fractions activities and Maths worksheets
- Social and emotional learning activities
- Narrative writing stimuli
- Language conventions practice
- And so much more!
Are you new to teaching Year 3? Here's a look at what this year of primary school is all about!
What Is Year 3 in Australia?
Year 3 sits right in the middle of primary school for most students in Australia as the fourth year of compulsory education.
How Old Are Kids in Year 3?
The exact age of students will vary slightly by state (and birthday!), but most children in your Year 3 class will be 8 to 9 years old.
What Do Students Learn in Year 3?
Year 3 is a big one for Australian students. Many will sit the NAPLAN tests, and more than a few will hit double digits before the year is through. This is a big year for Maths between the introduction of more complex fractions and formal multiplication, as well as even more skill-building in other learning areas.
Exactly what they're expected to learn will depend to some degree on the state or territory where you are teaching, but here's a look at what your students can expect to encounter in the key areas of the curriculum!
English
Year 3 students continue to develop their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in their English lessons. Reading will involve more complex texts, including longer novels, non-fiction texts, and poetry.
Students will also be expected to analyse these texts more deeply, examining themes, character development, and literary techniques. Comprehension skill-building will require deeper analysis of texts and drawing inferences from what is read.
While Year 2 instruction focuses on basic writing skills such as sentence structure and punctuation, this older group of students will move toward more advanced writing skills such as paragraphing, using descriptive language, and organising ideas in a logical way.
Grammar and spelling will also become a greater focus this year, with an emphasis on understanding and applying more complex grammar rules and spelling patterns.
Maths
Fractions feature front and centre of the Year 3 Maths curriculum. Students will learn to identify, compare, and order unit fractions (those being fractions with a numerator of 1), as well as use them in simple problem-solving contexts.
We already alluded to this being a big year for multiplication, and is it ever! Year 3 students learn the basic multiplication facts — such as 2 x 2 = 4 and 3 x 3 = 9 — and they begin to use these facts to solve multiplication and division problems. They also learn to interpret and create simple multiplication and division problems.
Students will have the chance to build upon their understanding of measurement concepts from Year 2, including length, mass, and capacity. They'll learn to measure and estimate using standard units, plus how to compare and order measurements.
Maths students will expand their knowledge of 2D shapes this year, and they will begin to learn about three-dimensional shapes and their properties.
Place value is still a big part of maths, of course. Year 3 students expand their understanding of place value to include numbers up to 10,000, and they learn to read, write, and compare four-digit numbers. They also learn to use place value to solve addition and subtraction problems.
Science
Science instruction in Year 3 is more focused on building a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and their applications, as compared to Year 2. It also emphasises the development of scientific inquiry skills that will help kids become more proficient in conducting scientific investigations and communicating their findings.
Students in Year 3 learn to ask questions, plan and conduct investigations, collect and record data, and communicate their findings as part of their development of science inquiry skills. They spend a portion of the year learning about the characteristics of living things, including plants and animals. Year 3 students will have the chance to explore the life cycles of plants and animals, as well as learning about the needs of living things and their habitats.
While they're learning about things that live on Earth, they're also learning about the planet itself, exploring geological features such as rocks, soil, and minerals. They also explore heat energy and how it can be transferred from one object to another.
Last, but certainly not least, Year 3 students learn about the properties and states of matter, including solids and liquids (gasses are explored later on in primary school).
Humanities and Social Sciences
Building on the foundation set in Year 2, Year 3 HAAS lessons build a deeper understanding of historical events and concepts, as well as exploring the social and economic systems that underpin Australian society.
Students learn about the historical events, people, and places that have shaped Australia's history. They explore the concept of change and continuity over time and learn to use historical sources to investigate the past. Students also study significant cultural events celebrated in our country and how they contribute to Australia's diversity and identity.
Geography instruction will guide students as they learn about the physical and cultural characteristics of places and regions. They'll learn more about the representation of Australia as states and territories, and as Countries/Places of First Nations Australians. Students will also begin exploring Australia's neighbours such as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.
Civics instruction sees Year 3 students strengthening their understanding of what it means to live in a democratic society. They will draw upon their own personal experiences to examine why rules are important and to discuss how they can be active participants in the communities to which they belong.
Health and Physical Education
With their bodies rapidly changing, Year 3 students learn about the factors that influence their health and wellbeing, including the importance of good nutrition, hygiene, and sleep. They also learn about social and emotional health, including how to manage their feelings, develop positive relationships, and make safe and healthy choices.
In Year 3, there are a number of different types of safety on tap in lessons, including road safety, water safety, and personal safety. They develop an understanding of risk and learn strategies for staying safe in different situations.
Year 3 students also learn about the importance of being active and informed citizens in their community. They learn about the benefits of volunteering and begin to develop an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of individuals in society.
The Arts
In Year 3, students develop more advanced skills in drawing, painting, and other visual arts techniques. This includes studying the elements of art — such as line, shape, colour, and texture — and beginning to use these to create more complex artworks.
In music class, these children are learning all about musical notation and how to read and write simple music, while drama instruction explores different forms of drama, including role-playing, improvisation, and scripted performance. Students get the chance to learn about the elements of drama, such as character, plot, and setting, and begin to use these to create their own dramatic works.
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Printable Adjectives List for Kids
Print your students a list of adjectives to keep at hand when writing to help them use descriptive language.
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Telling Time to 5 Minutes - Activity Sheets
Tell time to the nearest five minutes with a pack of printable cut-and-paste telling time activity sheets.
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Procedural Writing Posters
Display this set of 5 procedural writing posters in your classroom during your procedural writing unit.
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Grid Paper - 1cm
A precise, 1cm grid sheet.
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Ways to Represent a Unit Fraction Worksheet
Help students show their knowledge of how to represent different unit fractions with this set of unit fractions worksheets.
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Jungle Theme Classroom Decor Bundle
Bring jungle theme decor into the classroom with this teacher-created bundle full of decorations and more teacher must-haves.
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Inference Pictures Digital Activity
Download this set of captivating pictures and thought-provoking questions designed to challenge students’ inference-making abilities.
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Mindful Colouring Baubles - Christmas Papercraft
Practise mindfulness while making ornaments with a set of elegant mindful colouring Christmas papercrafts.
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Making Inferences Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to make inferences with this 31-slide teaching presentation.
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Free Blank Face Template Pack
Use these free blank face templates to create fun back-to-school art celebrating the individuality and diversity of your new students!
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Year 3 Heat Energy Vocabulary Cards
Explore heat energy vocabulary with this set of thermal energy vocabulary cards.
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Expanded Form Worksheet Pack
Practise expanding 2-digit to 6-digit numbers with this set of 5 worksheets.
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What is Remembrance Day? Teaching PowerPoint
Guide your students to discover the origin of Remembrance Day and how it is celebrated in Australia with a teaching slide deck.
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Persuasive Device Examples – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Match the persuasive writing techniques with the correct examples using this simple cut-and-paste worksheet perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
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Persuasive Techniques Posters
Support students to improve their persuasive writing with these persuasive techniques posters.
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Skip Counting by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 Mystery Picture
Have your students uncover a mystery picture by solving skip counting problems to and multiply by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10.
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Double-Digit Addition Strategies Posters
Remind your students to use different addition strategies with a set of printable two-digit addition strategies.
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Jump Strategy Addition Worksheet Pack
Practise using the jump strategy with this worksheet set.
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Classifying 3D Objects Sorting Activity
Play this sorting game when learning how to classify 3D objects according to their properties.
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Main Idea Comprehension Task Cards and Worksheets
Download this set of comprehension task cards to help students find the main idea when reading.
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Place Value to the Thousands Place - Maths Mats
Practise place value concepts, addition and subtraction with a printable set of place value charts.
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Plural Spelling Rules Teaching Slides
Teach plural rules to your class with ease using this engaging slide deck that helps students understand when to add -s, -es, -ies and -ves to make plural nouns.
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Narrative Writing Word Wall
Review terms related to narrative texts and narrative writing with a set of 33 narrative vocabulary word wall cards.
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Fractions of a Collection – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these printables to explore how sets of objects can be partitioned into different fractions.
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Friendship Flower Template
Reflect on how a good friend acts with this charming friendship writing exercise.
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Daily Vocabulary Dive - Synonyms and Antonyms Worksheet
Give your students a daily dose of synonym and antonym review with a 5-day vocabulary warm-up worksheet.
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Features of Maps - Worksheet
Apply knowledge of the components of a map to this map elements worksheet.
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A Map of Our Classroom - Mapmaking Project
Develop primary mapping skills with a classroom mapping project.
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Number Talks - Fraction Task Cards
Build fraction skills with this set of 30 task cards.
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Digital Christmas Escape Room for the Classroom — Elf Investigation
This exciting Christmas escape room has been created by our teacher team to engage your upper years students this holiday season. Help the Mayor of Elfton catch the person responsible for some mischievous events in his town.
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Apostrophes of Possession Teaching Presentation
Teach your students to use the correct forms of possessive nouns with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Reading Scales – Measuring Mass Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning to read scaled instruments to measure mass.