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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Comprehension Task Cards Summarising
Practise summarising text with these relevant events-based texts.
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Unit Fractions Interactive Activity
Explore everything there is to know about unit fractions with your students using this engaging interactive activity.
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Following Directions Worksheets - Reading a Clock Review
Practise telling time to the half-hour, quarter-hour, and five-minute mark with a pack of printable Following Directions to Tell the Time worksheets.
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Unit Fractions Roll and Cover Activity
Explore unit fractions with this fun partner game for maths rotations in the classroom.
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Life Cycle of a Butterfly Craft - Concertina Template
Re-create the life cycle of a butterfly with a printable butterfly life cycle concertina craft.
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Telling the Time - Clocks to 5 Minutes Task Cards
Practise reading clocks to determine the time to the nearest 5 minutes with a set of telling time task cards.
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Persuasive Devices Crossword
Familiarise your students with the most common persuasive devices with an engaging crossword puzzle.
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Rhetorical Questions Sorting Activity
Explore rhetorical question examples with your students using this set of 28 sorting cards perfect for literacy groups
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Watercolour Rainbow Classroom Theme Bundle
Brighten up your classroom space with a cheery Watercolour Rainbow Classroom Theme using a variety of editable classroom decor printables.
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Multiplication With Equal Groups – Colour by Number Worksheet
Guide your students to determine a multiplication problem for an equal groups model with this colour-by-number worksheet.
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Empathy Word Search
Introduce or review vocabulary terms related to empathy with this free word search worksheet.
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Large Multiplication Chart (Blank)
Use this 4-page blank multiplication chart to teach your students about finding products, multiples and number patterns.
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Multiplication With Models Worksheet
Guide your students to determine the product of single-digit factors with various multiplication models.
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Multiplication With Arrays Task Cards for Year 2
Help your students master their understanding of multiplication arrays with this set of 20 task cards.
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Spot the Homophones Worksheets
Transform students into vocab detectives with this set of reading passages containing misspelled homophones.
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Which Homophone? Worksheets
Download this differentiated homophones worksheet to help your students become more familiar with this tricky vocabulary!
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Persuasive Writing Project (My Favourite Season)
Explore persuasive writing with this persuasive writing project focusing on a student’s favourite season.
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Angles in Our Environment Teaching Slides
Explore angles in the environment using this comprehensive teaching presentation for Year 3 students.
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Dot Day Circle Art Project - Delaunay-Inspired
Inspire your students to create bright, beautiful art with easy dot art templates.
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Dot Plot Worksheet
Practise analysing and creating single-unit dot plots with this free maths worksheet.
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Would You Rather...? Question Cards
Would You Rather use this set of 31 question cards or eat a can of worms?
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Plant Life Cycle Passage and Graphic Organiser
Give your students an opportunity to sequence the life cycle of a plant with a reading passage and worksheet.
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Fact Family Mazes Differentiated Worksheet Set
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise of fact family knowledge to solve multiplication expressions.
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Classifying 3D Objects - Interactive Activity
Classify 3D objects according to their properties with this digital drag-and-drop activity.
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3 Digit Subtraction Worksheets - Subtraction Strategy Practise
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with a pack of printable worksheets covering various strategies for 3-digit subtraction.
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2-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping - Year 3 Task Cards
Practise using various strategies to solve 2-digit subtraction problems (with and without regrouping) with a set of task cards.
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Sort the Suffixes - Worksheets
Practise using the suffixes -s, -es, -ies and -ves with a pack of printable add-a-suffix worksheets.
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Life Cycle of a Bean Activity Pack
Organise, record, and display information about the life cycle of a bean with these activity templates.
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Rain Cloud in a Jar Experiment
Use this science experiment when learning about the different types and features of clouds and how they contribute to the water cycle.
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Regular and Irregular Polygons
A poster chart showing regular and irregular polygons.
- Free Plan
Printable Number Line - 0-120
Create personal number lines for use in maths lessons with a printable blank number line template for numbers from 1-120.
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Friendship Flower Template
Reflect on how a good friend acts with this charming friendship writing exercise.