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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Understanding Fractions – Worksheet
Consolidate your students’ understanding of fractions on a number line, comparing fractions, equivalent fractions and more with a wide range of fraction questions.
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NAPLAN Reading Magazine – Year 3
5 reading texts with multiple choice questions for NAPLAN Reading Year 3.
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Calming Pastel Themed Editable Desk Name Plates
Create calming student name plates with these Calming Pastel inspired customisable desk name plates.
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Grow with Kindness Craft
Promote kindness in the classroom with this engaging craft.
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Multiplication Soccer – Fluency Card Game
Reach the goal of mastering multiplication facts with this multiplayer soccer card game!
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Managing Anger Worksheet (Lower Primary)
Help students identify and manage their anger with this self-relfection worksheet.
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What Is Anger? Poster
Teach your students to understand and manage anger with this informative classroom display poster.
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Stegosaurus Mindful Colouring In Sheet
A stegosaurus mindful colouring in sheet.
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Why Teach About Aboriginal Astronomy? Poster
An educational poster providing a rationale for teaching Australian children about Aboriginal astronomy.
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Narrative Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 3
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their narrative writing.
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Class Carnival – Probability STEM Challenges
A set of four carnival-themed STEM challenges where students create fun games that incorporate probability.
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Infinity Colouring Sheet Template
Create a growing class masterpiece with this infinity colouring activity—perfect for brain breaks, early finishers and classroom displays.
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Pattern to Picture Activity
A fun art activity to experiment with the use of line and pattern.
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Social-Emotional Learning Chatterbox
A chatterbox template for students to use during social-emotional learning.
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Behaviour Reflection Sheet (Lower Primary)
Get your young students to reflect on their behaviours with this reflection worksheet.
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Memory Matcher PowerPoint – 3D Shapes
Recognise and recall the names of some of the most common 3D objects with a digital memory game!
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Crazy Boxes – 4 Times Tables
A fun multiplication worksheet where students create a colour pattern using 4 times tables.
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Alliteration Poem Poster and Templates
Use this alliteration poem example and accompanying worksheets to teach your students how to write an alliteration poem.
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Picnic Fractions Worksheet
An activity for students to use when learning about halves, quarters and eighths.
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How to Make a Paper Plane – Procedural Writing Worksheet
Explore how to make a paper plane while your students fine-tune their procedural writing skills.
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Colour Me Carefully – Geometric Animals – Worksheets
A set of four colouring pages to be used as speaking and listening activities.
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Cover Up! - Multiplication Facts Game
A game for practicing multiplication facts.
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How to Make an Origami Dog — Step-By-Step Instructions
Teach students how to make an origami dog with an easy origami guide for kids.
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Roll to Create a New World
A printable, roll-to-create activity where students draw and name a new world.
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Colour by Parts of Speech Worksheet – Chameleon
Practise your parts of speech lesson by colouring nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and pronouns on the chameleon.
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Guided Reading Groups - Progress Tracker
Use this resource to track the progress of students during your guided reading groups.
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2D Shape and 3D Object Flashcards
Explore 2D shapes and 3D objects with this set of 20 full-page flashcards.
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Novel Study Worksheet Pack
Download this set of novel study worksheets that can be used with any text to support your students in exploring characters and events in literature.
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Using Words with Prefixes - Worksheet Pack
Practise using the prefixes Un-, Re-, Mis-, Pre-, Dis-, and In- with a pair of printable prefix worksheets.
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Panda Colouring in Sheet
A picture of a panda for students to colour in.
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Year 3 Dictation Passages PowerPoint
Use this set of Year 3 dictation passages to promote listening and transcription skills in your students.
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10-20 Digit Cards
A set of 10-20 digit cards to be used when teaching place value.