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.
- Plus Plan
Character Description – Text Analysis Worksheets
Teach character description with this set of four worksheets that help students explore how authors use the STEAL technique to bring characters to life.
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Cooperation Puzzles - Teamwork Activity
Explore the benefits of cooperation with a tangram-style team-building activity.
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Book an Adventure! Book Week Word Search
Kick off this year’s ‘Book An Adventure’ Book Week festivities with a printable Book Week Word Search.
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Pizza Maths Fact Fluency Trackers
Motivate and inspire students to learn their maths facts with printable maths fact fluency trackers.
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Poetry Cloze Passage Worksheets
Use these poetry cloze worksheets to introduce your students to various types of poetry in a fun and engaging way.
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All About Mass Worksheet Pack
Practise the metric units used to measure the mass of objects with this set of worksheets.
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All About Mass Teaching Slides
Learn all about mass using this engaging set of teaching slides.
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Present and Past Tense Regular Verbs Matchup Cards
Learn about simple present tense and simple past tense of regular verbs with this match up activity.
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Types of Verbs Poster Set
Explore the different types of verbs with this set of verb posters displaying the definition and examples of action, saying, thinking and relating verbs.
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Measuring in CM and MM Matching Activity
Practise measuring objects to the nearest centimetre and millimetre with this match-up activity.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practise reading and writing 4-digit numbers using expanded form with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Inferencing Worksheet
Use this worksheet with your students when teaching them how to make an inference.
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Inference Comics Worksheets
Use this set of comic strips when teaching your students how to infer information from everyday situations.
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Match the Arrays Worksheet Pack
Give your students practise matching arrays and multiplication facts with these math worksheets for years 2 and 3.
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Multiplication Using Arrays Worksheet
Encourage your students to practise multiplication using arrays with this worksheet.
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Estimating Sums and Differences Interactive Activity
Download our interactive activity designed to sharpen your students’ understanding of estimating sums and differences with rounding and compatible numbers.
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Dot Day Mandala Colouring Pages
Create designer dot art on International Dot Day with a set of printable Dot Day Mandala Colouring Pages.
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Visual Daily Timetable and Equipment List for Students
Provide a visual schedule for specific students with this desk template.
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Compensation Strategy Teaching PowerPoint
Teach your students to use the compensation strategy for addition with an interactive teaching slide deck.
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Addition Strategies Task Cards
Practise using the jump strategy, split strategy, compensation strategy and 100s chart strategy with this set of task cards.
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Behaviour Reward Charts - Stars
Reward positive behaviour in style with a printable behaviour sticker chart.
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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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3-Digit Addition and Subtraction with Regrouping - Anchor Charts
Break down the steps to use regrouping to find a solution with an addition and a subtraction poster.
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Printable Person Outline - Craft Template
Create fun likenesses of your students and famous figures with a printable person online template.
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Worksheet Set — Rounding Using a Vertical Number Line
Use a vertical number line to round whole numbers to the tens, hundreds, and thousands place with a pack of differentiated rounding worksheets.
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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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Representations of Unit Fractions Poster
Display this free poster in your classroom showing representations of common unit fractions.
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Similes Poster (Early Years)
Show your students an example of a simile using this colourful classroom display poster.
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Emotions Worksheet Set
Help students understand different emotions with this set of five emotions worksheets.
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Picture Graph Templates
A set of blank picture graph templates for students to represent data.
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I Have, Who Has? Game – Measuring Mass with Scales
A game to reinforce the skill of reading scaled instruments when measuring mass.
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Narrative Text Structure Posters
Brighten your classroom and teach narrative paragraph structure with this set of 8 engaging posters designed to make narrative writing clear and fun for students.