Common Planner
K–12 Standards

Grade 3

Other South Dakota Social Studies sets

WORLD HISTORY: To 60 B.C.E.  

  • 1

    Building upon skills learned in previous grades, the student learns the skills to complete the following tasks, completing each task with relative ease by the end of 3rd grade. 3.SS.1

    1. A

      The student can correctly use terms related to time periods or dates in history, including: H3.SS.1.A

      1. 1

        decade3.SS.1.A.1

      2. 2

        century3.SS.1.A.2

      3. 3

        millennium3.SS.1.A.3

      4. 4

        1700s, 1800s, etc.3.SS.1.A.4

      5. 5

        1492, 1776, etc.3.SS.1.A.5

    2. B

      As preparation for study of the American Revolution, but not limited to that study, the student can demonstrate how taxes work using counters, drawings, or mathematics. E3.SS.1.B

    3. C

      The student can evaluate a historical event through writing a narrative paragraph. H3.SS.1.C

    4. D

      The student can investigate a historical figure through writing an informative paragraph. H3.SS.1.D

  • 2

    The student demonstrates knowledge of American and South Dakota geography.3.SS.2

    1. A

      The student locates on a map and describes the features of America’s physical geography, including: G3.SS.2.A

      1. 1

        ocean coastlines3.SS.2.A.1

      2. 2

        Gulf of Mexico 3.SS.2.A.2

      3. 3

        Hudson River3.SS.2.A.3

      4. 4

        Appalachian Mountains3.SS.2.A.4

      5. 5

        Ohio River3.SS.2.A.5

      6. 6

        Great Lakes3.SS.2.A.6

      7. 7

        Niagara Falls3.SS.2.A.7

      8. 8

        Mississippi River3.SS.2.A.8

      9. 9

        local geography3.SS.2.A.9

    2. B

      The student locates on a map all fifty states in America. G3.SS.2.B

    3. C

      The student locates on a map the major regions of the United States, including: G3.SS.2.C

      1. 1

        New England3.SS.2.C.1

      2. 2

        The East Coast3.SS.2.C.2

      3. 3

        The Great Lakes3.SS.2.C.3

      4. 4

        The Great Plains3.SS.2.C.4

      5. 5

        The Mid-Atlantic3.SS.2.C.5

      6. 6

        The Midwest3.SS.2.C.6

      7. 7

        The Pacific Northwest 3.SS.2.C.7

      8. 8

        The South3.SS.2.C.8

      9. 9

        The Southwest3.SS.2.C.9

      10. 10

        The West Coast3.SS.2.C.10

      11. 11

        Alaska3.SS.2.C.11

      12. 12

        Hawaii3.SS.2.C.12

    4. D

      The student locates New York City and Philadelphia on a map and spells their names correctly. G 3.SS.2.D

    5. E

      The student locates Washington, D.C. on a map and identifies it as our nation’s capital. G3.SS.2.E

    6. F

      The student locates South Dakota, Pierre, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls on a map and spells their names correctly. G3.SS.2.F

    7. G

      The student locates on a map the major reservations in South Dakota. G3.SS.2.G

    8. H

      The student locates on a map the following geographic features of South Dakota: G3.SS.2.H

      1. 1

        Black Hills3.SS.2.H.1

      2. 2

        Badlands3.SS.2.H.2

      3. 3

        Bear Butte3.SS.2.H.3

      4. 4

        Spearfish Canyon3.SS.2.H.4

      5. 5

        Black Elk Peak 3.SS.2.H.5

      6. 6

        Missouri River3.SS.2.H.6

      7. 7

        James River3.SS.2.H.7

      8. 8

        Big Sioux River3.SS.2.H.8

  • 3

    The student demonstrates knowledge of ancient civilizations in Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. 3.SS.3

    1. A

      The student explains the roles of climate and environmental changes, hunter-gatherer societies, metallurgy, and agriculture in the development of early civilizations. HCE3.SS.3.A

    2. B

      The student explains the major historical events, cultural features, stories, and civil contributions of Ancient India, Babylon, Persia, and Ancient China, including polytheism, metalsmithing, the domestication of animals, and inventions such as the wheel, plow, and writing. HCE3.SS.3.B

    3. C

      The student explains the major historical events, cultural features, stories, and civil contributions of Ancient Egypt, including agriculture, the calendar, hieroglyphic writing, and papyrus. HCE 3.SS.3.C

    4. D

      The student explains the major historical events, cultural features, and stories of the ancient Hebrews. H3.SS.3.D

  • 4

    The student demonstrates knowledge of Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic. 3.SS.4

    1. A

      The student identifies the major figures and stories within Greek and Roman mythology. H3.SS.4.A

    2. B

      The student explains the causes, warfare, and effects of the Persian Wars, including the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae. H3.SS.4.B

    3. C

      The student explains the major cultural features and contributions of Athens, including pottery, architecture, sculpture, drama, and democratic institutions and practices. H3.SS.4.C

    4. D

      The student explains the causes, warfare, and effects of the Peloponnesian War. H3.SS.4.D

    5. E

      The student tells of the conquests of Alexander of Macedon and the spread of Greek culture in the Hellenistic Period. H3.SS.4.E

    6. F

      The student explains the stories and events surrounding the founding of Rome and the Roman Republic. H3.SS.4.F

    7. G

      The student explains the major cultural features and contributions of Rome, including in architecture, engineering, sculpture, the Latin language, and republican institutions and practices. HC3.SS.4.G

    8. H

      The student explains the causes, warfare, and effects of the Punic Wars, including the roles of Hannibal and Scipio Africanus. H3.SS.4.H

AMERICAN HISTORY: 1492-1763  

  • 5

    The student demonstrates knowledge of Native Americans and the voyages of Christopher Columbus.  3.SS.5

    1. A

      The student describes the Ancestral Pueblo and Hopewell civilizations. H3.SS.5.A

    2. B

      The student describes the similarities and differences in lifestyle, traditional warfare, and culture between two historical or present Native American tribes, one of which is from South Dakota, such as the Oceti Sakowin Oyate (including select standards from Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings 1-5 and 7), Mandan, Sahnish (Arikara), Cheyenne, Crow, Otoe, and Hidatsa. H3.SS.5.B

    3. C

      The student explains the tribal organizational structures of present-day Native Americans in South Dakota as sovereign nations. C3.SS.5.C

    4. D

      The student locates Jamestown, Plymouth, and Boston on a map. G3.SS.5.D

    5. E

      The student explains the various European motivations for exploration. H3.SS.5.E

    6. F

      The student explains the history of slavery from ancient times through the 15th century slave trade among Africans, Arabs, and Europeans, and compares it to the practice of indentured servitude. H3.SS.5.F

    7. G

      The student tells the biography of Christopher Columbus, including: H3.SS.5.G

      1. 1

        his theories about a faster western route to Asia3.SS.5.G.1

      2. 2

        his four voyages3.SS.5.G.2

      3. 3

        his death in poverty and humiliation3.SS.5.G.3

  • 6

    The student demonstrates knowledge of European exploration and settlement of what would become the United States. 3.SS.6

    1. A

      The student explains the origin of the name “America.” H3.SS.6.A

    2. B

      The student describes the travels and discoveries of other explorers in the future United States, including Ponce de Leon, Samuel de Champlain, and Henry Hudson. H3.SS.6.B

    3. C

      The student explains the Columbian Exchange of resources, people, and disease, including how smallpox decimated Native Americans. HE 3.SS.6.C

    4. D

      The student explains the variety of cooperative and violent interactions between Europeans, Indigenous peoples, and among Indigenous tribes. H3.SS.6.D

    5. E

      The student tells the story of the founding of Jamestown, including: H3.SS.6.E

      1. 1

        the stories of John Smith, Matoaka (Pocahontas), and John Rolfe3.SS.6.E.1

      2. 2

        the Starving Time3.SS.6.E.2

      3. 3

        the cultivation of tobacco3.SS.6.E.3

      4. 4

        the arrival of Africans from a Dutch slave ship captured by the English3.SS.6.E.4

    6. F

      The student tells the story of the founding of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, including: HC3.SS.6.F

      1. 1

        the stories of William Bradford and John Winthrop3.SS.6.F.1

      2. 2

        the backgrounds and motivations of the Mayflower passengers3.SS.6.F.2

      3. 3

        the Mayflower Compact3.SS.6.F.3

      4. 4

        the assistance of the Wampanoag3.SS.6.F.4

      5. 5

        the first Thanksgiving3.SS.6.F.5

      6. 6

        the meaning of John Winthrop’s “city upon a hill” 3.SS.6.F.6

    7. G

      The student tells of the founding of the following colonies: Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. H3.SS.6.G

  • 7

    The student demonstrates knowledge of colonial America. 3.SS.7

    1. A

      The student explains the Triangle Trade. H3.SS.7.A

    2. B

      The student describes life on a slave ship in the Middle Passage. H3.SS.7.B

    3. C

      The student explains the colonial economies and ways of life among the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. E3.SS.7.C

    4. D

      The student explains the status and effects of each of the following in colonial society, and the extents to which these were the rare in history: private property, education, local selfgovernment, and religious freedom. HCE3.SS.7.D

    5. E

      The student explains how the “American” colonist was generally defined by certain traits, including being hard-working, determined, religious, skeptical of authority, and self-governing. HCE 3.SS.7.E

    6. F

      The student explains how England’s relationship toward the colonists amounted to a “salutary neglect” and the ways this relationship benefitted the colonists. HC3.SS.7.F

    7. G

      The student explains the rule of law, as asserted in the Magna Carta, compared to the rule of man, and its influence on leading colonists. HC3.SS.7.G

    8. H

      The student tells the story of the French and Indian War, especially the roles of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and its effect on American identity and sense of unity. H3.SS.7.H

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?
Grade 3

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