Events, people and ideas of the past, and how they connect across time.
3.1 History: ways individuals, events, and ideas have affected the past of various communities
3.1A Describe the ways people, events, and ideas have transformed communities, past and present
3.1B Recognize people who helped shape communities, including Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Banneker, and Pierre-Charles L'Enfant
3.1C Describe how individuals, including the Founding Fathers and Daniel Boone, helped existing communities expand or helped create new ones
3.2 History: features that communities share, now and long ago
3.2A Recognize why people formed communities, including religious freedom, material well-being, and the need for security and law
3.2B Compare how people locally and in other communities meet needs for recreation, transportation, communication, education, and government
Geography and Place
Maps, places and regions, and how people and environments shape each other.
3.3 Geography: how humans adapt to or modify the physical environment, or both
3.3A Describe how the physical environment varies from place to place, covering natural hazards, natural resources, landforms, and climate
3.3B Recognize and compare how people in varied communities adjust to or change their surroundings, for example in deserts, mountains, wetlands, and plains
3.3C Describe how human activity, for example constructing new homes, practicing conservation, and polluting, reshapes the landscape
3.4 Geography: finding where places are, how far apart they are, and which way to go, using maps and globes
3.4A Using cardinal and intermediate directions, find places relative to the local community on maps and globes
3.4B Use a scale to work out how far apart places are on maps and globes
3.4C Recognize, draw, and read maps of places that include a grid system, scale, legend, compass rose, and title
Economics and Personal Finance
How people earn, spend, save and trade, and how economies work.
3.5 Economics: reasons people earn, spend, save, and donate money
3.5A Recognize how money can be earned, spent, saved, and donated
3.5B Build a simple budget that sets money aside for spending and for saving
3.6 Economics: how free enterprise works and how businesses run in that system in the United States
3.6A Explain how a good's or service's price is affected by supply and demand
3.6B Define scarcity and spot examples of it
3.6C Explain how the cost to produce something and the price it sells for affect profits
3.6D Recognize people from the past and present who launched new businesses, for example Henry Ford and Sam Walton
Government and Civics
How governments are organized, how laws are made, and the principles behind them.
3.7 Government: the basic organization and jobs of government at different levels
3.7A Describe the basic organization of government at the local, state, and national levels
3.7B Recognize officials in local, state, and national government and explain how they get their positions
3.7C Recognize the services that local, state, and national governments commonly offer
3.8 Government: key ideas in historical documents from different levels of government
3.8A Recognize the purposes behind the Declaration of Independence and behind the U.S. Constitution, along with its Bill of Rights
3.8B Describe what "consent of the governed" means
Citizenship and Civic Life
The rights and responsibilities of citizens and how people take part in their communities.
3.9 Citizenship: traits of good citizenship, as shown by figures and organizations from history and today
3.9A Recognize traits that make a good citizen, including truthfulness, justice, equality, self-respect and respect for others, everyday responsibility, and participation in government through learning about issues, respectfully expecting public officials to keep their word, and voting
3.9B Recognize figures who model good citizenship, for example Ruby Bridges, Clara Barton, and Helen Keller
3.9C Recognize and describe personal acts showing civic responsibility, including obeying laws, improving and serving the community, jury service, and voting
3.9D Recognize civic or nonprofit organizations, for example the Red Cross, and tell how each serves the common good
3.9E Use voting to reach decisions as a group
Culture and Society
The beliefs, customs and traditions of different groups and how cultures change and interact.
3.10 Culture: ethnic and cultural celebrations held in the local community and in others
3.10A Explain what various ethnic or cultural celebrations mean, both locally and in other communities
3.10B Compare ethnic or cultural celebrations of the local community with those of other communities
3.11 Culture: how heroes help shape the culture found in communities, Texas, and the nation
3.11A Recognize and describe the heroic acts of state and national heroes, military members, and first responders, for example the Four Chaplains, James A. Lovell, and Hector P. Garcia
3.11B Recognize and describe the heroic acts of people such as Todd Beamer, Harriet Tubman, and other contemporary heroes
3.12 Culture: how much writers and artists add to the heritage shared by communities
3.12A Recognize how writers and artists, for example Laura Ingalls Wilder, Carmen Lomas Garza, Tomie dePaola, and Kadir Nelson, enrich community cultural heritage through stories, poems, statues, and paintings
Science, Technology, and Society
How inventions and scientific advances have changed the way people live and work.
3.13 Science, technology, and society: how people who invented or developed new technology changed life in communities, past and present
3.13A Recognize people behind scientific breakthroughs or new technology, for example Louis Pasteur, Bill Gates, Cyrus McCormick, and Jonas Salk, among others
3.13B Describe how computers, pasteurization, and medical vaccines, as scientific breakthroughs and new technology, have affected various communities
Social Studies Skills
Finding, analyzing and communicating information from sources, and reasoning about evidence.
3.14 Social studies skills: thinking critically to organize and apply information from many valid sources, technology included
3.14A Collect information about the community from varied resources, including geographic data and events of the past and present
3.14B Distinguish and compare what primary and secondary sources report about one issue or event
3.14C Interpret spoken, visual, and written material by sequencing, categorizing, finding the main idea, separating fact from opinion, spotting causes and effects, comparing, and contrasting
3.14D Read and build visuals, including maps, illustrations, timelines, tables, charts, and graphs
3.14E Pinpoint the main claim a primary or secondary source makes
3.14F Build a claim on a social studies topic and present it, with supporting evidence, through images, speech, or writing
3.15 Social studies skills: communicating through writing, speaking, and visuals
3.15A Use social studies vocabulary accurately
3.15B Build and read timelines
3.15C Describe historical periods with the words year, decade, and century
3.15D Share ideas aloud, drawing on prior knowledge and experiences
3.15E Produce written and visual work to express ideas, for example graphic organizers, maps, pictures, and stories
3.15F Use basic language skills for respectful discussion of social studies topics, including topics with more than one perspective
3.16 Social studies skills: solving problems and making decisions, on one's own and with others
3.16A Practice democratic procedures by simulating decisions about school, local, or state issues
3.16B Work through a problem-solving and decision-making process: spot a problem, collect information, brainstorm options and weigh their pros and cons, pick and carry out a solution, then judge whether it worked
How many 3rd Grade TEKS Social Studies Standards are there?
There are 48 3rd Grade TEKS Social Studies Standards on this page, in 8 strands: History and Chronology, Geography and Place, Economics and Personal Finance, Government and Civics, Citizenship and Civic Life, Culture and Society, Science, Technology, and Society, and Social Studies Skills.
How do I write an assessment for a 3rd Grade TEKS Social Studies standard?
Pick a standard on this page and choose Make a quiz or Make an exit ticket. AssessmentWiz opens the generator with the standard's code and text filled in, so every question targets that standard.
What does a code like 3.1A mean?
TEKS social studies codes read grade, knowledge and skills statement, student expectation. In 3.1A, the first number is the grade (K for kindergarten), the next number is the knowledge and skills statement, and the letter is the student expectation under it.