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
Figurative Language Posters – Onomatopoeia
Help young readers and writers recognise onomatopoeias with a set of onomatopoeia classroom posters.
- Plus Plan
Elapsed Time Printables (Digital Clocks)
Download a pack of differentiated Elapsed Time worksheets to help your students practise finding elapsed time using digital clocks.
- Plus Plan
Time and Elapsed Time - Task Cards
Solve a variety of time and elapsed time problems with a set of Elapsed Time to the Hour and Half-Hour task cards.
- Plus Plan
Exaggeration and Hyperbole Interactive Activity
Explore hyperbole examples with your students using this digital game perfect for lesson warm-ups or lesson wrap-ups.
- Plus Plan
Telling the Time Bingo – Mixed Times
Thirty-two different bingo cards using analogue clocks.
- Plus Plan
Parts of a Clock Anchor Chart
Familiarise students with the analogue clock face, hands and other parts of a clock with a printable poster created for the primary classroom.
- Plus Plan
4-Digit Number Riddles Cut and Paste
Use these 4-digit number worksheets to help students practise matching numbers up to 10 000 with their word and expanded forms.
- Plus Plan
Multiplication as Repeated Addition Task Cards
Reinforce how repeated addition and multiplication are related with this set of 24 task cards.
- Plus Plan
Heat Conductors Science Experiment (Feel the Heat)
Investigate heat conductors with your students using this engaging science experiment.
- Plus Plan
The Importance of Soil – Comprehension Worksheets
Teach your students about the importance of soil to plants, animals and humans with this differentiated reading comprehension passage with accompanying questions.
- Plus Plan
Then and Now - Grandparents' Day Interview Activity
Interview grandma and grandpa to compare then and now with our printable Grandparents’ Day interview templates.
- Plus Plan
A World Without Right Angles – Worksheet
Help your students explore the vital role that right angles play in our environment with this differentiated maths worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Compare and Contrast Worksheets - Neil Armstrong vs. Amelia Earhart
Compare and contrast Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart with differentiated reading comprehension worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Double-Digit Addition - Maths Task Cards
Practise adding 2-digit numbers with this set of 18 double-digit addition task cards.
- Plus Plan
Desk Pet Habitat Templates
Encourage positive behaviour with printable Desk Pet Habitats for your students to spend their Desk Pet Dollars on!
- Plus Plan
Behaviour Reflection Sheet for Upper Years Students
Use this printable behaviour slip template for students when reflecting on their behaviour choices.
- Plus Plan
Behaviour Reward Charts - Stars
Reward positive behaviour in style with a printable behaviour sticker chart.
- Plus Plan
Printable Maths Puzzles - Subtraction Tarsia
Print a set of 7 Tarsia puzzles to practise solving single-to-multi-digit subtraction problems.
- Plus Plan
Finding the Main Idea in Fiction Texts Interactive Activity
Help your students easily find the main idea and support details in a fiction text with this interactive activity.
- Free Plan
Printable Person Outline - Craft Template
Create fun likenesses of your students and famous figures with a printable person online template.
- 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.
- Plus Plan
Fractions of a Collection – Differentiated Worksheets
Differentiated worksheets that focus on fractions of collections.
- Plus Plan
Mother's Day Card – Mindful Colouring
Print a beautiful card to colour and give to your mum on Mother’s Day.
- Free Plan
Day and Night – Worksheet
Encourage your students to illustrate the day and night cycle with this free worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Write With Your Senses: Daily Descriptive Writing Prompts
Inspire your students to write descriptively using our 20 daily descriptive writing prompts slide deck and graphic organiser.
- Plus Plan
Text Features Flashcards
Teach students the features of nonfiction texts such as headings, sidebars, captions and many more with this set of flashcards for primary students.
- Plus Plan
Telling Time Puzzle - Quarter Hour
A fun puzzle to use when learning how to tell the time to the quarter-hour, using the language of 'past' and 'to'
- Plus Plan
Which One? Listening Comprehension Exercise
An Interactive PowerPoint where students choose an image to match an aural description.
- Plus Plan
Maths Warm-Ups Interactive PowerPoint – Year 4
A PowerPoint providing a series of warm up activities for Year 4 students across the Mathematics curriculum.
- Plus Plan
Missing Addend Addition Picture Puzzle – Level 3
Consolidate students’ addition skills with this missing addends worksheet.
- Free Plan
Flip, Draw, Expand! - Place Value Worksheet (3-Digit Numbers)
A worksheet to use when consolidating understanding of place value to hundreds.
- Plus Plan
I Have, Who Has? Game - Money (Australian Currency)
A whole-class game to help students when learning to count coins and notes.