If you teach 3rd grade in a Smarter Balanced state, you know the spring ELA test asks a lot of eight-year-olds. They read stories and articles, fix a classmate’s draft, listen to a short presentation, sort through research sources, and then write a whole essay. If you’re hunting for Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test prep at 9 p.m. with tomorrow still unplanned, this workbook was made for you.
The Smarter Balanced (CAASPP / SBAC) 3rd Grade ELA Practice Test Workbook is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and built from the published Smarter Balanced test design. Every passage and every question is original, written in the same styles your students will meet on test day, and reviewed by a certified teacher.
One book works in all nine Smarter Balanced states, from California to South Dakota. It comes as a Printable PDF, an Interactive Workbook that runs in the browser, a Bundle with both, and a School License for your whole building. Here’s what’s inside, a quick look-inside video, and a simple plan for using it between now and spring.
- An 18-question pretest, a Learn It lesson + test-style practice for all 24 skills, mixed review, test-taking strategies, 2 full-length practice tests and a 279-answer key.
- All four parts of the test: reading, writing, listening and research, plus a Performance Task with a full write.
- Printable PDF $9.99 · Interactive Workbook $9.99 · Bundle $14.99 · School License $49.97.
- The Interactive Workbook reads directions, questions and answer choices aloud, plays the listening presentations as audio, and scores each section when students turn it in.
- Try the Interactive Workbook free online, no sign-up needed. Members get the PDF and the Interactive Workbook included.
What’s inside the Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test prep workbook
Every page has a job. The workbook follows the order you’d actually teach: find out what students know, teach the gaps, mix it all together, then rehearse the real thing.
Pretest + scoring guide
18 questions and a guide that shows which skills to teach first.
Learn It + practice
A worked example, then test-style practice, for all 24 skills.
Reading, writing, listening, research
Original stories, articles, student drafts, short presentations and research sources.
Test-taking strategies
Five pages of short, practical tips for reading closely and finding the evidence.
2 full-length practice tests
39 questions each: a 37-question Part 1 plus a Performance Task.
Answer key + trackers
279 answers, bubble answer sheets, writing rubrics, progress trackers, class data sheets and a certificate.
The question types match the real test: multiple choice, “choose two” questions, two-part Part A/Part B questions, select-a-sentence questions, tables, a short written answer and a full essay. When kids have already met those formats, test day is about the reading and writing, not the buttons.
Inside · PretestPretestFind each student’s starting point in one sitting.
Inside · Learn ItLearn It pagesA worked example and a tip before the practice, for every skill.
Inside · ReviewMixed ReviewReading, writing, listening and research, mixed like the real test.
Inside · Practice testFull practice testsTwo 39-question tests, Part 1 plus a Performance Task.
Take a look inside (video)
Want to flip through it before you buy? This short look-inside video walks through the whole workbook, from the pretest to the class data sheets at the end.
What’s on the Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test?
The Smarter Balanced ELA test comes in two parts. Part 1 is computer-adaptive, so the questions adjust as students answer. It covers four areas: reading stories and articles, revising and editing short student drafts, listening to short presentations, and using research sources to answer a question.
Part 2 is the Performance Task. Students read a few sources on one topic, write a short research answer, and then write a full piece of their own. That full write is where a lot of 3rd graders stall, so each practice test in this workbook ends with one: an opinion piece in Test 1 and an informational piece in Test 2, with rubrics and sample answers so you know what full credit looks like. Story writing gets its own practice in the Writing section.
Listening is the part teachers ask about most. In the printed book, you read each presentation aloud from the scripts at the back while students take notes. In the Interactive Workbook, it plays as audio. Some states give a shorter, adjusted Part 1 of about 20 questions (California, Washington, Delaware, Hawaii and Idaho), and Connecticut has no ELA Performance Task. The teacher notes explain how to use the practice tests either way.
How does the Interactive Workbook work?
The Interactive Workbook is the same workbook, live in the browser. It runs on interactive whiteboards, touch panels, Chromebooks and tablets, and there’s nothing to install. It works like test day, so students practice the routine as well as the reading.
Questions read aloud
Directions, questions and answer choices are read aloud, and listening presentations play as audio.
Students answer, then turn in
Just like the real test: no hints and no instant right-or-wrong while they work.
A score for each section
When a section is turned in, students see their score and which skills they’ve got.
Try it again
Students can try a section again, with the answer choices in a new order.
Want to see it first? Open the free preview on your classroom board tonight, read-aloud included, with no account needed. Two minutes in, you’ll know whether it fits your class.
Pick your format: Printable, Interactive or Bundle
Every edition has the same passages and questions, so you can mix them. Print the pretest for small groups, then run the practice tests on Chromebooks so test day feels familiar.
3rd · Printable PDF · $9.99Printable PDFAll 296 full-color pages. Print as many copies as your class needs.
3rd · Interactive · $9.99Interactive WorkbookThe whole workbook on any screen, read aloud and scored when turned in.- 3rd · Bundle · $14.99Bundle (PDF + Interactive)Both editions together for less than buying them separately.
3rd · School License · $49.97School LicensePDF + Interactive for every teacher and student in one school.
Buying for your whole building? The School License ($49.97) covers the Printable PDF and the Interactive Workbook for every teacher and student in one school, so your whole grade level works from the same pages.
Which states use the Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test?
This one workbook serves all nine Smarter Balanced states, even though each one calls the test something a little different. Find your state’s testing details and every workbook for it here:
Pick your state
When do 3rd graders take the Smarter Balanced ELA test?
Smarter Balanced is an end-of-year test, given in the spring. Each state sets its own window, and in California each district does, usually somewhere between March and June. For the 2026–27 school year, here’s an easy way to spread your Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test prep across the year so spring never turns into a cram session.
Now: give the pretest
Score it with the guide and circle the skills each reader needs most.
Fall into winter: teach the gaps
Use one Learn It + practice set a few times a week, in the order your pretest points to.
Winter: mix it up
Mixed review keeps reading, editing, listening and research skills fresh while you teach new units.
Early spring: Practice Test 1
Run it like test day, Performance Task included, then reteach what slipped.
A few weeks later: Practice Test 2
A second full run builds reading and writing stamina and shows real growth.
Test day: celebrate
They’ve seen every question type already. Tell them so.
Districts pick their own days inside the state window, so check your school calendar. To see exactly what 3rd graders are expected to learn, read the Common Core State Standards for 3rd grade reading. Our test prep by state page keeps every state’s workbooks in one place.
Members: assign it in HFT Classroom
With a Have Fun Teaching membership, the Printable PDF and the Interactive Workbook are included. Assign any section to your class in HFT Classroom, and students sign in with a class link and a picture, with no student emails. You see their scores and the skills they missed. See how HFT Classroom works.
3rd grade ELA worksheets to pair with it
When the pretest flags a skill, a quick single-page worksheet is an easy way to add one more round of practice. These three line up with big 3rd grade ELA skills on the test.
3rd · WorksheetMain Idea and Three Details Graphic OrganizerName the main idea of any text and back it up with three details.
3rd · WorksheetContext Clues WorksheetUse the words around an underlined word to figure out what it means.
3rd · WorksheetAdding Commas in a SeriesEditing practice with commas in lists, like the test’s edit questions.
Keep exploring
Get it included with a membership
This workbook, plus 6,600+ resources
Members get the Printable PDF and the Interactive Workbook of every state test prep workbook, plus the whole library. Try it free for 3 days.
- Smarter Balanced 3rd Grade ELA: PDF + Interactive included
- Every printable, song and video, Preschool–6th
- Assign interactive resources in HFT Classroom
- Unlimited downloads, new resources added every week
Smarter Balanced 3rd grade ELA test prep: questions teachers ask
Is this workbook made by Smarter Balanced or my state?
No. Have Fun Teaching wrote every passage, presentation, student draft and question from scratch, and a certified teacher reviewed the book. It is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and built from the published Smarter Balanced test design, but it is an independent practice resource and does not use real test items.
Which states can use this workbook?
All nine Smarter Balanced states: California (CAASPP), Connecticut, Delaware (DeSSA), the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho (ISAT), Nevada (SBAC), South Dakota and Washington (SBA). The test has a different name in some states, but the 3rd grade ELA standards and question types are the same, so one workbook covers them all.
What’s the difference between the editions?
The Printable PDF ($9.99) is all 296 pages to print. The Interactive Workbook ($9.99) is the same workbook in the browser, read aloud and scored when students turn in each section. The Bundle ($14.99) gives you both. The School License ($49.97) covers the PDF and the Interactive Workbook for every teacher and student in one school.
How does the workbook handle the listening questions?
Every practice test has listening sets, just like the real test. In the printed book, you read each short presentation aloud from the scripts at the back, and students take notes and answer. They never see the script. In the Interactive Workbook, the presentation plays as audio, so students can listen on their own.
Does it include the Performance Task?
Yes. Each practice test ends with a Performance Task: a topic, three short sources, a written research answer and a full write. Test 1 asks for an opinion piece and Test 2 an informational piece, scored with rubrics and sample answers. Connecticut gives no ELA Performance Task, so teachers there can use it as writing practice.
Walk into test day ready.
Start with the free preview, or grab the whole workbook today.
Smarter Balanced® is a trademark of The Regents of the University of California. Have Fun Teaching, LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium or any state department of education.
