Grade 3 Mixed Operations Practice

All four operations on a single grade 3 page, so the first job is spotting which sign is in front of you. Twenty problems with a complete answer key.

CCSSAligned to Common Core 3.OA.7: Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division; know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

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Three different problem sets — same skill, same layout, fresh numbers.

Preview — Set A

Check the sign in each problem before you work. All four operations appear on this page.

  1. 1.
    262 + 86 =
  2. 2.
    650 − 104 =
  3. 3.
    8 × 10 =
  4. 4.
    10 ÷ 2 =
  5. 5.
    449 + 27 =
  6. 6.
    152 − 30 =
  7. 7.
    9 × 2 =
  8. 8.
    60 ÷ 10 =
  9. 9.
    457 + 67 =
  10. 10.
    838 − 825 =
  11. 11.
    8 × 5 =
  12. 12.
    70 ÷ 7 =
  13. 13.
    421 + 445 =
  14. 14.
    171 − 21 =
  15. 15.
    2 × 9 =
  16. 16.
    8 ÷ 2 =
  17. 17.
    424 + 390 =
  18. 18.
    535 − 45 =
  19. 19.
    8 × 3 =
  20. 20.
    40 ÷ 5 =

What this worksheet covers

This is a 20-problem drill for grade 3 mixed operations, printed in black and white with the key on page two. Within that, six of the ten column problems need regrouping and the rest do not, so the two cases are mixed rather than blocked and the numbers run as high as 838. Problems 7 and 14, for instance, are "9 × 2" and "171 − 21". It is written against Common Core 3.OA.7 — Operations & Algebraic Thinking, grade 3.

Skills practised

At grade 3, mixed operations is about all four operations, with two-step expressions introduced, and this sheet takes one slice of that. What a student is asked to do here is grade 3 Mixed Operations Practice. Working the page asks a student to carry or borrow across place-value columns without losing a digit. Nineteen different answers appear across the twenty problems, so a student cannot copy one result down the page.

About the drill format

A drill is straight practice: 20 problems of the same kind, laid out across the page with working space under each — problem 7, "9 × 2" is typical of the whole page. A drill that changes operation from problem to problem tests sign reading as much as computation.

Set A, Set B and Set C

Set A is the sheet as it was first published on MathSheetLab, and Sets B and C were derived from it problem by problem: each number became a slot redrawn with the same shape, and every answer was recomputed exactly. Where Set A's problem 11 is "8 × 5", Set B's is "8 × 4".

How to use this worksheet

Give this drill uninterrupted. At grade 3, mixed operations is where procedure and recall have to run at the same time, and twenty problems done in fragments hide which of the two is the problem. Ask the student to re-work one missed mixed operations problem from scratch on Set B rather than correcting it in place; the second attempt shows whether the method changed.

One mistake to watch for

Two-step expressions are evaluated left to right: 3 + 4 × 5 gives 35. On this grade 3 drill, problem 14 ("171 − 21") is the kind of item where it shows.

The convention that multiplication comes first has not been taught, or is not yet automatic.

Box the multiplication or division first on every problem, then evaluate, and only then add or subtract.

The full guide to teaching mixed operationsTeaching mixed operations and order of operations: the grade 1–8 progression, why PEMDAS misleads, and how interleaved practice builds operation sense.

Other grade 3 mixed operations formats

The same skill in the other formats available at this grade.

  • Timed DrillGrade 3 Mixed Operations Timed Drill, 72 problems
  • Missing NumberGrade 3 Mixed Operations Missing Number, 24 problems
  • Mixed ReviewGrade 3 Mixed Operations Mixed Review, 30 problems
  • Word ProblemsGrade 3 Word Problems (Mixed Operations), 8 problems

A step either side

The same format one grade down and one grade up — the easier sheet is often the faster fix when this one is not landing.

Drill sheets in other grade 3 topics

Print as many copies of this grade 3 mixed operations drill as you need; Sets A, B and C and their keys are six separate PDFs, all free.

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