Worksheets for Teachers
Did someone say printable worksheets? From year 1 maths worksheets to reading comprehension worksheets to printables for kindergarten and beyond, our collection of teacher-created teaching tools is ready to make learning fun and engaging for your students in all subject areas and on all primary year levels.
Explore printable activities, free worksheets, homework sheets and more — all aligned to the Australian curriculum and all created by teachers, for teachers just like you!
Teach Starter worksheets undergo a careful review process by our expert teacher team to ensure they're ready for your lesson plans ... and your students! Best of all, you know each printable is designed with the goal of turning on that lightbulb over your students' heads and producing more of those 'aha!' moments in the classroom!
Curious about how to make worksheets more engaging? Or maybe you're just wondering how worksheets became a tool used in schools? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
Why Do Teachers Use Worksheets?
Worksheets are an important part of any teacher's toolkit — and yes, we say part because we believe in the importance of hands-on learning too (explore our full collection for plenty of student-led activities!) — but do you ever wonder how they ended up being so ubiquitous?
It was back in the mid-20th century that worksheets started to take hold in education.
The concept of individualised instruction was gaining traction, and educators recognised the need to tailor learning experiences to students' unique abilities, interests and learning styles.
Worksheets started to emerge because they were a means to provide students with both individualised practice and reinforcement of skills. Psychologists like Jean Piaget (you may know him best for his theories on children's cognitive development?) played a role here. The Swiss psychologist suggested teachers should be providing their students with materials that would advance their thinking, and worksheets offer a means for students to assess their own learning.
The real win for worksheets, however, was the invention of the photocopy machine! It made it easy for this supplemental tool to spread like wildfire!
How Do You Make Worksheets Engaging?
You already know educational printables are a beneficial learning tool. They enable students to work independently, practising and applying the concepts they've been learning in your classroom.
So how do you keep them from putting your students in boxes?
At Teach Starter, our worksheets aren't 'just worksheets.' Our expert teacher team works every day to create the tools you need to create impactful classroom experiences. That means our teacher team creates our school worksheets specifically to engage students with eye-catching graphics and creative formats. Here are some of their tips to ensure worksheets are used effectively in the classroom — and truly help engage your students!
- Use worksheets as just part of your toolbox. These are great tools to support classroom instruction and provide independent practise, and they should be balanced with a mix of other teaching tools!
- Mix up your worksheet types. Teach Starter's cut-and-paste worksheets, for example, add an interactive element to help hold students' attention.
- Encourage students to doodle. Doodle notes have taken education by storm in recent years as the visual note-taking method has been proven to improve students' focus and memory. Apply those benefits to your worksheets, and you may be surprised by how it pulls kids' attention to the page!
- Add plastic sleeves. Slipping worksheets into plastic sleeves and allow students to use wipe-away pens on the sleeves is a good way to extend the life of a worksheet — and it adds and element of fun for kids who love the chance to use pens!
- Use digital worksheets. Allow students to fill out their worksheets on classroom tablets as a means to add an extra level of engagement.
It's Not Just a Worksheet
The key to effective worksheets comes down to how you use them — a balanced approach to education combines worksheets with other instructional strategies — from hands-on activities to group work to project-based learning.
So what can you get from worksheets?
Consider this — early years students can work on their fine motor skills with our mini books, cut-and-paste worksheets and more while their upper years peers get pulled into the fun of vocabulary fun with word searches and crossword puzzle worksheets. Printable puzzles that engage students in the form of a brain game and colour by worksheets that bring art elements into maths and reading.
Worksheets also provide the opportunity for formative assessment and give your students a chance to practice problem-solving while they work independently.
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Data Representation and Interpretation Worksheets - Year 6
8 data representation and interpretation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion Worksheets
Help students distinguish between fact and opinion with this engaging zebra-themed comprehension task designed to strengthen critical thinking and reading skills.
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Tens and Ones - MAB Worksheet
A numeracy worksheet for students to use when learning about tens and ones.
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Verb Worksheet Pack
Use this set of engaging verb worksheets to explore verbs in the Year 1 classroom.
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Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
Strengthen addition and subtraction skills with this hands-on worksheet pack.
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Analysing Persuasive Devices Worksheets
Get students analysing persuasive techniques and their effects on audiences with this set of three texts with accompanying questions.
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Beginning, Middle End Worksheets
Explore the main structure and story elements in a short story with these beginning, middle and end worksheets.
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Cut and Paste Letter Sounds Worksheet Pack
Explore single letter sounds with this cut and paste worksheet pack for your early years students.
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Sentence Fluency Reading Cards Set
Make fluency practice engaging with our Sentence Fluency Reading Cards Set.
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Persuasive Writing Worksheets - Would You Rather?
Explore persuasive writing with these persuasive writing worksheets - would you rather exercise.
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Skip Counting Caterpillar Worksheet Pack
Craft a Skip Counting Caterpillar with our printable skip counting cut and paste worksheets for year 1.
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Number Patterns Year 3 and 4 Worksheet Set
Share our number patterns year 3 worksheet set with your students to give them practice with number patterns and algebraic relationships.
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Editing Worksheets Year 5
Use these editing worksheets Year 5 to get your students fixing incomplete sentences, spelling errors and punctuation errors.
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How Do Rocks Form? – Informative Text Sequencing Task
Help students learn about informative text structure and how rocks are formed with an engaging cut-and-paste sorting activity.
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CVC Word Blending Cut and Paste Worksheets
Help students practise blending and reading CVC words with this set of 6 cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Clock Worksheet Cut and Paste– 5-Minute Intervals
Use a clock worksheet to cut, paste and build a clock with five minute increments.
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Sequence a Procedure Text – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these procedural writing examples to teach your students about sequencing instructions in a logical order.
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Measurement Worksheets for Foundation - Mass, Length, Capacity
Practise comparing units of mass, capacity, and length with a printable pack of foundation measurement worksheets.
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Converting Time - Worksheet Pack
Download a set of Time Conversion printable worksheets to help your students convert between minutes, hours, days and weeks.
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Dogs Make The Best Pets - Reading Comprehension Test
Assess reading comprehension skills with printable Reading and Writing Comprehension worksheets.
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Telling Time - Story Problem Comprehension Worksheets
Practise reading comprehension and telling time skills with a printable pack of Telling Time Maths Story Worksheets.
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Elapsed Time on a Number Line Worksheets
Practise finding elapsed time using an open number line with a pair of differentiated elapsed time worksheets.
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Match the Arrays Worksheet Pack
Give your students practise matching arrays and multiplication facts with these math worksheets for years 2 and 3.
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Colour by Missing Angles Worksheets
Get students to find the size of missing angles on right angles, straight angles and angles at a point with this maths worksheet with a difference!
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Spot the Homophones Worksheets
Transform students into vocab detectives with this set of reading passages containing misspelled homophones.
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Skip Counting by 2,3,4,5, & 10 Mystery Picture
Have your students uncover a mystery picture by solving skip counting problems to and multiply by 2,3,4,5 & 10.
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Ordering Decimals on a Number Line — Year 4 Worksheet
Practice ordering decimals on a number line with this worksheet.
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Identifying Prime and Composite Numbers – Worksheet
Use understanding of factors to identify composite and prime numbers with this worksheet.
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Colouring 2D Shapes Worksheet
A worksheet to consolidate students' understanding of rectangles, squares, circles and triangles.
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Chance Worksheets - Year 5
4 chance worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Number and Place Value Worksheets - Year 1
8 number and place value worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Procedural Writing Sequencing Worksheet – How to Wash Your Dog
Use this procedural writing worksheet to teach your students about the importance of sequence in procedure texts.