Give your third grader everything they need for the Pennsylvania PSSA — Math and English Language Arts — in one book.
This Smart Stars combined edition provides ten full-length, standards-aligned practice tests: five in Mathematics and five in English Language Arts, 465 questions in all. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built on the Pennsylvania Core Standards at Grade 3.
Take a look inside
The PSSA — the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment — is the test the Pennsylvania Department of Education gives every public-school student in Grades 3-8, delivered by Data Recognition Corporation on the DRC INSIGHT platform. Pennsylvania does not put a clock on the PSSA at Grade 3, so these practice tests are untimed too. Results are reported in four levels: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.
Combined edition: these are the same practice tests offered in our two individual Grade 3 titles. If you already own both, this volume does not add new tests.
What’s inside
- Five full-length tests of 43 questions each, 215 in all, with detailed Answers and Explanations after every test
- The real Grade 3 shape: 40 multiple-choice and technology-enhanced-style items plus 3 open-ended items, in two sections with a STOP marker between them
- No-calculator, no-formula-sheet practice throughout, matching the official PSSA Grade 3 policy
- A Math Reference Sheet up front — multiplication facts, place value, measurement equivalents, fractions, rounding, area and perimeter — as a study aid, since the real test provides none
- Figure work rendered for paper: clocks, number lines, line plots, bar and picture graphs, area models, arrays, rulers, and geometry figures
What’s inside — English Language Arts
- Five full-length tests of 50 questions each, 250 in all, built on original reading passages
- The real three-section structure: literature, informational text, and conventions of standard English
- Multiple-choice, two-part evidence-based, and short-answer items scored 0-3 for content — and no long essay, matching the Grade 3 test, where the essay begins in Grade 4
- A Grade 3 ELA Study Reference Sheet up front — reading skills, story elements, evidence words, and a conventions quick reference
Topics covered
- Place value, comparing and rounding whole numbers to 10,000
- Adding and subtracting within 1,000, with and without regrouping
- Multiplication and division within 100: arrays, equal groups, and missing factors
- Fractions on a number line, equivalent fractions, and comparing fractions
- Area, perimeter, and composite figures; quadrilaterals and shape attributes
- Telling time to the minute, elapsed time, mass, and liquid volume
- Picture graphs, bar graphs, and line plots marked in halves and quarters
- Key ideas and details, main idea, theme, and character
- Text structure, author’s purpose, and text features
- Vocabulary in context, including nonliteral meaning
- Capitalization, punctuation, plurals, verb tense, and complete sentences
- Writing a short answer that states a claim and supports it with text evidence
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Educator-authored: Every question and passage is written and reviewed by classroom-experienced educators.
- Mirrors test day: Each test matches the official PSSA shape, item mix, section structure, and untimed, no-calculator policy, with field-test-style items blended in unmarked just as they are on the real test.
- Built for Pennsylvania: Aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards at Grade 3, with grade-appropriate contexts and a varied cast of student names.
- Explanations teach the why: Every entry shows the full worked solution, then a labeled closing Tip, Check, or Estimate — and a Strategy on multi-step problems — so students learn the reasoning, not just the letter.
- All original: Every reading passage and every question was written for this book.
