Grade 3 Common Core Math: Patterns and Algebraic Thinking

Grade 3 Common Core Math: Patterns and Equations covers arithmetic patterns, unknowns and equal expressions in one printable unit, with unplugged coding and a modeling task on top. Each group of skills opens with a short teaching page and a worked example. Students sort real-life patterns into repeating elements and repeating operations, then show them with shapes, letters, numbers and tables of values. They use pattern rules for near and far predictions and to fill gaps, and they build number strings that grow from ones to hundreds. They use boxes, letters and symbols for unknown numbers, decide whether two expressions are equal or not equal, and rearrange numbers to make adding easier.

The coding pages need no devices. Students trace code on a park map, alter code that draws a square or skip counts, test equal expressions with two turtles moving at the same time, and see how moving one line in or out of a loop changes what the code says. A three-part modeling task has the class plan seedlings for a school plant sale, using their own vote, then revise the plan when the goal changes and a windy day knocks cartons off the shelf.

The teacher notes give a six-week order, materials, differentiation, the common misconceptions, a map from every topic to its Common Core standard and pages, a note on which pages go beyond Grade 3, and a modeling checklist. Two practice pages are generated, so their answers are computed and checked. Every other page has a worked answer key, and a two-part end-of-unit assessment finishes the unit. The free sample is the teacher notes and the Spot the Pattern practice page.