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Common Core Math2nd GradeNumbers in Base Ten

2.NBT.3: Read and Write Numbers to 1,000

Also written as 2.NBT.A.3 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.3 · Cluster: Understand place value.

Get the Place Value ChartAll 26 2nd Grade Math Standards

The Official Wording

Read and write numbers to 1000 using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Number & Operations in Base Ten · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What 2.NBT.3 Means in Plain English

Second graders move between three ways of writing a number up to 1,000: the numeral 608, the words six hundred eight, and the expanded form 600 + 8, starting from any one of them. Zeros are the hard case: six hundred eight is not 68 and not 6,008.

Expanded form is the bridge to arithmetic: 608 + 254 becomes hundreds plus hundreds, tens plus tens, ones plus ones (2.NBT.7). In 3rd grade the same place-value reading drives rounding to the nearest 10 or 100 (3.NBT.1), and the forms stretch to a million in 4th (4.NBT.2).

2.NBT.3 I Can Statements

  • I can read a number to 1,000 and write it in words.
  • I can write a number like 608 in expanded form.
  • I can write the numeral for a number given in words.

2.NBT.3 Worked Example

One number with a zero in the middle, written all three ways, because the zero is where second graders slip.

608 by place value
6Hundreds
0Tens
8Ones
Six flats, no rods, eight cubes. The words skip the tens entirely, six hundred eight, but the numeral cannot: the 0 holds the tens place so the 6 stays worth 600. Some classes write the expanded form as 600 + 0 + 8.
600 + 8

six hundred eight

Common Mistakes with 2.NBT.3

Writing the words as you hear them

“six hundred eight” written as 6008 or 68

Try this: Use a three-column chart: say the words, write the 6 under hundreds, ask what goes under tens, and fill the empty column with 0.

Expanded form from the digits

608 = 6 + 0 + 8, or 254 = 2 + 5 + 4

Try this: Build the number with flats, rods and cubes, then write what each pile is worth: 600 and 8, not 6 and 8.

Teens flipped

“seven hundred fifteen” written as 751

Try this: Read the teen on its own first, fifteen is 15, then slide it in after the hundreds digit: 7, then 15, so 715.

Where 2.NBT.3 Fits

Comes Before1.NBT.1Read and write numerals to 120.1.NBT.2A two-digit number is tens and ones.
Alongside2.NBT.1What each digit of a three-digit number is worth.2.NBT.4Compare three-digit numbers with >, = and <.
Comes Next2.NBT.7Add and subtract within 1,000 by hundreds, tens and ones.3.NBT.1Round to the nearest 10 or 100.4.NBT.2Read, write and compare multi-digit numbers in numerals, words and expanded form.

Practice 2.NBT.3

Math Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolNumbers to 1,000 given one way and asked for another: numeral to words, words to numeral, expanded form to numeral, with an answer key.Grade 2Expanded formAnswer key
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Quick Check

  1. Write 493 in expanded form and in words.
  2. Write the numeral for three hundred seven.
  3. A number has the expanded form 900 + 10 + 2. What is the numeral, and how do you say it?

2.NBT.3: Other Names

2.NBT.32.NBT.A.3CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.3

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.