3rd grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 3rd grade social studies in the California Content Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Continuity and change in the local region
- American Indian nations of the region, then and now
- Local history and the basics of US government
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
Needs Around the World
Everyone needs food, water, shelter and clothing. How people in different places meet these needs using what the land and climate offer, and why caring for the land matters.
Working Together Fairly
Practices group skills: sharing ideas, decisions and responsibilities, being fair and respectful, considering other people's views, listening actively and choosing ways to present information.
Money, Taxes & Voting
Natural, human and capital resources, what is made locally and elsewhere, trade-offs and opportunity cost, how taxes pay for services, and how citizens vote and take part.
Culture & Traditions
Culture, diversity and unity in a community, the traditions newcomers bring, and national symbols and mottoes that tie people together.
Changemakers & Allies
Americans who took risks to secure freedoms, majority rule with respect for others, and using sources to learn about them.
Our Region's Land
Deserts, mountains, valleys, coasts, rivers and bays in California, reading maps and tables, and how people use the region's resources and change the land with farms, dams, canals and freeways.
First Peoples of Our Region
California Indian nations such as the Chumash, Pomo, Cahuilla, Ohlone and Yurok: how the land shaped how they lived, trade, tribal governments and constitutions, what settlers' arrival meant for them, and nations today. Light, in the present tense, and with nothing sacred or ceremonial.
How Our Community Began
The explorers and settlers who came to California, why towns started where they did, the economies settlers built, primary and secondary sources, and how communities change over time.
Rules, Laws & Government
Why we have rules, laws and the Constitution, the three branches of government with a focus on cities and counties, and how California, the other states and tribal nations each govern.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the California report card guide.
Common questions
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbor what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The California Content Standards 3rd grade social studies units include Needs Around the World, Working Together Fairly, Money, Taxes & Voting, Culture & Traditions, Changemakers & Allies, Our Region's Land.
Free printable 3rd grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.