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fact-minute

Grades 1–5 · printable + timed

Adding 3 Timed Test

Print it with the answer key on page 2, or run the timer here.

Operation
Fact range
Problems
Time limit

Addition · 3s · 20 problems · 1 minute NameDateScore
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
Answer key · Addition · 3s · 20 problems NameDate
  1. 1 6 + 3 9
  2. 2 10 + 3 13
  3. 3 3 + 4 7
  4. 4 4 + 3 7
  5. 5 10 + 3 13
  6. 6 3 + 4 7
  7. 7 3 + 1 4
  8. 8 3 + 11 14
  9. 9 3 + 8 11
  10. 10 3 + 6 9
  11. 11 3 + 4 7
  12. 12 3 + 5 8
  13. 13 10 + 3 13
  14. 14 3 + 9 12
  15. 15 8 + 3 11
  16. 16 3 + 9 12
  17. 17 7 + 3 10
  18. 18 3 + 8 11
  19. 19 3 + 10 13
  20. 20 3 + 0 3
0 correct of 20

Correct 0 Wrong 0 Blank 20

0:00 elapsed of 1:00

Elapsed 0s Left 60s

A timed sheet on adding 3

Adding 3, from 3 + 0 to 3 + 12. Every problem on the sheet is drawn from that set and nothing outside it.

Choose 20, 50 or 100 problems and a limit of 1, 2 or 5 minutes, then print the sheet with its answer key on page two, or start the timer and type into the same grid. The problems are drawn again every time the page loads, so a second sheet is not a copy of the first. How the counts and limits work is on its own page, along with what a timed test does and does not measure.

Thirteen rows, with the answers

Adding 3: all thirteen facts and their answers.
Problem Answer
3 + 0 3
3 + 1 4
3 + 2 5
3 + 3 6
3 + 4 7
3 + 5 8
3 + 6 9
3 + 7 10
3 + 8 11
3 + 9 12
3 + 10 13
3 + 11 14
3 + 12 15

Where adding 3 goes wrong

Adding 3 splits into adding 2 and then one more, and that intermediate step becomes a child's first two-stage strategy. Which is why wrong answers on a 3s sheet are almost always off by exactly one: the intermediate value got written down as the answer before the second step happened.

Three that come up

What is a good strategy for adding 3?
Add 2 then add 1, or add 1 then add 2. Either way the child holds a middle number.
Why are 3s addition mistakes usually off by one?
The middle number of the two-step strategy gets written down as the answer.
Should adding 3 come before doubles?
Usually after. Doubles are recalled as a set; adding 3 needs a two-step move.

What the standards and the critics actually say

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (PDF), page 19 — 2.OA.B.2 “By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.” thecorestandards.org — CCSSI_Math Standards.pdf

NCTM — Procedural Fluency in Mathematics (position statement) “Timed tests do not assess fluency and can negatively affect students, and thus should be avoided.” nctm.org — Procedural Fluency in Mathematics

youcubed — Fluency Without Fear “For about one third of students the onset of timed testing is the beginning of math anxiety.” youcubed.org — Fluency Without Fear