Give your third grader the confidence to succeed on the North Dakota ND A+ Grade 3 Math test.
This Smart Stars practice book provides five full-length, standards-aligned practice tests that mirror the length, item mix, and question types of the real ND A+ spring assessment in Mathematics. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built around the 2023 North Dakota Mathematics Content Standards at Grade 3 (the standards North Dakota adopted for its own classrooms) so the topics and emphasis match what North Dakota students actually see.
ND A+ (the North Dakota Academic Progression of Learning and Understanding of Students) is the statewide test the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction gives to every public-school student in Grades 3-8. It is delivered online by Pearson and, at Grade 3, taken in a single session as a fixed form, with a spring administration that counts toward grade-level results. The Grade 3 math test is given with NO calculator (every question is meant to be worked by hand) and it uses no reference sheet. Every question is machine-scored: single-answer multiple choice, multiple-select (“select two”), and typed-in numeric answers. On the real test a student answers about 38 scored questions plus a few unscored field-test questions blended in invisibly. Each practice test here follows that same shape: 38 scored-style questions plus 6 field-test-style questions, 44 in all, for 220 questions across the book: to build true test-day endurance.
What’s inside
- Five full-length practice tests, with detailed Answers and Explanations after every test
- The single-session, no-calculator structure of the real test, so practice feels like test day
- Coverage of every Grade 3 math reporting category North Dakota uses (Number and Operations, Algebraic Reasoning, Geometry and Measurement, and Data, Probability, and Statistics) weighted toward the Number and Operations work that carries the most questions, just like the real blueprint
- Field-test-style questions blended invisibly into each test, just like the real ND A+, and fully answered here so nothing on test day feels unfamiliar
- Practice in the exact ND A+ item formats: single-answer multiple choice, multiple-select (“select two”), and typed-in numeric answers, plus number lines, line plots, area models, clocks, coins, scaled bar and picture graphs, and figure-based geometry
- Every explanation walks through the reasoning step by step and ends with a labeled Tip, Check, or Estimate (with a Strategy on the multi-step questions), so students learn the move, not just the answer
- A combined Quick Answer Key after each test for fast self-grading
- A family letter, a test-taking tips section, and a Grade 3 math study reference page up front: included as a study aid, since the real ND A+ provides no reference sheet at Grade 3
- A no-calculator approach matched to the real policy: the Grade 3 test allows no calculator, so every question here is built to be solved by hand
Machine-scored questions only, no calculator, and no reference sheet. The real Grade 3 test asks only multiple-choice, multiple-select, and typed-in numeric questions, allows no calculator, and provides no reference sheet, so students practice exactly as they will test. An inch ruler is helpful for the measurement and line-plot questions.
Topics covered
- Place value, and reading, writing, comparing, and rounding whole numbers: including North Dakota’s Grade 3 reach to 10,000, with numbers in standard, word, and expanded form and four-digit comparisons
- Adding and subtracting whole numbers within 1,000, with and without regrouping
- Understanding multiplication and division through arrays, equal groups, area, and the way multiplication and division undo each other, with fluency within 100
- Multiplying one-digit numbers by multiples of ten
- Two-step word problems, properties of operations, and number patterns
- Fractions as numbers: unit fractions, fractions on a number line, equivalent fractions, whole numbers written as fractions, and comparing fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator (halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and eighths)
- Sorting and classifying quadrilaterals by their sides and angles
- Angle types (right, acute, and obtuse) and lines of symmetry, part of North Dakota’s Grade 3 geometry
- Perimeter of rectangles, including finding an unknown side length
- Area of a rectangle by tiling with unit squares and by multiplying side lengths
- Telling and writing time to the minute, and finding elapsed time
- Money: solving problems with coins and the cent symbol
- Measuring and estimating mass and liquid volume in grams, kilograms, and liters
- Reading and building scaled picture graphs and bar graphs, and line plots marked in halves and quarters of an inch
- Analyzing data to answer “how many more,” combine-and-compare, and two-step questions
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Educator-authored. Every question is written and reviewed by classroom-experienced educators.
- Mirrors test day. Each practice test matches the official ND A+ shape, item mix, question formats, single-session no-calculator policy, and no-reference-sheet rule, with field-test questions blended in invisibly just like the real test.
- Built for North Dakota. Aligned to the 2023 North Dakota Mathematics Content Standards at Grade 3: including North Dakota’s own Grade 3 emphases such as numbers to 10,000, four-digit comparison, angle types, and lines of symmetry: with grade-appropriate real-world contexts and a friendly cast of student characters.
- Explanations teach the why. Every Answers and Explanations 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.
- Varied and graduated. Slot positions, contexts, names, and number choices rotate test-to-test, and the five tests step up in difficulty: the later tests lean on more multi-step and multi-select reasoning: so no two feel like the same practice run.