About this book
Give your third grader the confidence to succeed on the New Mexico NM-MSSA 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 NM-MSSA spring assessment in Mathematics. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built around the New Mexico Common Core State Standards for Mathematics at Grade 3, so the topics and emphasis match what New Mexico students actually see.
Take a look inside
NM-MSSA — the New Mexico Measures of Student Success and Achievement — is the test the New Mexico Public Education Department gives to every public-school student in Grades 3-8.
- Delivery: delivered by Cognia, with the spring administration the one that counts toward grade-level results.
- Format: an untimed, online test given in two sessions, with paper forms available as an accommodation.
- Tools at Grade 3: Session 1 uses no calculator, and Session 2 allows a basic four-function calculator; there is no reference sheet at any grade.
- Question types: single-answer multiple choice, multiple-select (“choose the two”) questions, and two constructed-response questions where students show their work and explain their thinking.
- Length: a student answers about 47 scored questions, with a few unscored field-test questions mixed in invisibly.
- Each practice test here: 45 scored multiple-choice and multiple-select questions, 2 constructed-response questions, and 6 field-test-style questions, 53 in all, for 265 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
- Coverage of every Grade 3 math area New Mexico reports — Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Number and Operations in Base Ten, Number and Operations — Fractions, Measurement and Data, and Geometry — weighted toward the Operations and Algebraic Thinking work that carries the most questions, just like the real blueprint
- Two constructed-response (“show your work”) questions on every test, the same as the real NM-MSSA, each fully worked in the answer key so students learn how to earn every point
- Field-test-style questions blended invisibly into each test, just like the real NM-MSSA, and fully answered here so nothing on test day feels unfamiliar
- The same two-session format as the real test, with a Session 2 divider marking where a calculator becomes allowed
- Practice in every NM-MSSA item format rendered for paper: multiple choice, multiple select (“choose the two”), constructed response, number lines, line plots, area models, clocks, rulers, and figure-based geometry
- 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 NM-MSSA provides no reference sheet at Grade 3
Topics covered
- Understanding multiplication and division through equal groups, arrays, repeated addition, and number lines, and the way multiplication and division undo each other
- Multiplying and dividing within 100 fluently, applying the commutative, associative, and distributive properties, and finding an unknown factor
- Two-step word problems using all four operations, with a letter for the unknown, and checking answers with estimation and rounding
- Arithmetic patterns and explaining them
- Place value and rounding whole numbers to the nearest ten and hundred; adding and subtracting within 1,000; multiplying one-digit numbers by multiples of ten
- Fractions as numbers: unit fractions, fractions of a whole, 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)
- Telling and writing time to the minute and solving elapsed-time problems; measuring and estimating liquid volume and mass in liters, grams, and kilograms
- Reading and building scaled picture graphs and bar graphs, and line plots marked in halves and fourths of an inch
- Area of a rectangle by tiling with unit squares and by multiplying side lengths, including the distributive property and composite (rectilinear) figures
- Perimeter of polygons, including finding an unknown side and comparing rectangles with the same area or perimeter
- Sorting and classifying quadrilaterals — squares, rectangles, rhombuses, and others — and partitioning shapes into equal parts named as unit fractions
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 NM-MSSA shape, item mix, two-session format, calculator policy, and no-reference-sheet policy, with constructed-response and field-test questions included just like the real test.
- Built for New Mexico: Aligned to the New Mexico Common Core State Standards for Mathematics at Grade 3, with grade-appropriate real-world contexts and a diverse cast of student names.
- 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, multi-select, and constructed-response reasoning — so no two feel like the same practice run.
