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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Elkonin Boxes - Word Shapes Worksheets - Year 1
Build early phonics skills with our printable Phonics-Based Elkonin Boxes Word Shapes Worksheets.
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Rounding on a Number Line Worksheet Set
Use our rounding on a number line worksheet set to give your students practise using a number line to round numbers up to the hundred thousands place.
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Editing Sentences – Year 4 Worksheets
Download these Year 4 editing worksheets to get your students identifying and fixing errors in sentences.
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Cartesian Planes Worksheets
Utilise this Cartesian plane worksheet set to give your students practise locating and plotting points on the Cartesian plane.
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Appropriate Units of Measurement – Worksheets
Help students learn to choose appropriate units of measurement with a set of differentiated measurement handouts.
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Year 6 Metric Conversions Practice Sheets - Length
Practise converting, comparing, and ordering metric measurements with a Year 6 Metric Conversions worksheet pack.
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All About Mass Worksheet Pack
Practise the metric units used to measure the mass of objects with this set of worksheets.
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Using Metric Units of Length Worksheets - Differentiated
Use differentiated metric measurement worksheets to practise identifying units, measuring, and converting metric units of length.
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Mixed Operations - Length Word Problems Worksheets
Solve multi-step length word problems with a printable pack of 3-act Maths Word Problem Worksheets.
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Line Plots / Dot Plots - Year 5 Assessment
Assess student understanding of reading and creating dot plots/line plots with a printable assessment for Year 5.
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Months and Seasons Worksheet - Matching Activity
Order the months of the year and match them with their corresponding seasons with a cut-and-paste activity.
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Cursive Writing Worksheets PDF - Alphabet
Practise writing the alphabet in cursive with a pack of printable cursive alphabet writing worksheets.
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How Long Does It Take? – Seconds, Minutes & Hours Worksheets
Estimate the duration of time it takes to complete an action with a pair of Seconds, Minutes, or Hours? Cut and Sort Worksheets.
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Naked Mole Rat - Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Read and learn facts about the naked mole rat with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack for year 4 and 5.
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Using Persuasive Devices Worksheet
Use this persuasive devices worksheet to help your students create persuasive device examples based on a specific topic.
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Find the Adverbial Phrases Worksheet
Use this simple yet effective adverbs worksheet to assess students’ ability to identify adverb groups (adverbial phrases) in sentences.
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Angles in the Environment Worksheet
Help your students identify acute, right and obtuse angles in the environment with this differentiated worksheet.
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Plant Life Cycle Passage and Graphic Organiser
Give your students an opportunity to sequence the life cycle of a plant with a reading passage and worksheet.
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Fact Family Mazes Differentiated Worksheet Set
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise of fact family knowledge to solve multiplication expressions.
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Subtraction Strategies – Assessment
Assess your students’ knowledge of subtraction strategies with a subtraction assessment.
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A Day in the Life of a Water Droplet – Comic Strip Templates
Put your artistic skills to use as you illustrate a day in the life of a water droplet with these printable comic strip templates.
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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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Fractions on a Number Line – Worksheet
Improve student understanding of fractions on a number line with this printable maths worksheet.
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World Mapping Workbook
Develop mapping skills by plotting key features and locations onto a map of the world.
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Whole Numbers on a Number Line Worksheet
Practice finding the missing number on number lines.
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Representing Money Amounts – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise representing money amounts in multiple ways.
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Leisure Land - Map Skills Worksheet
Explore map skills with a theme park compass rose activity for Years 2–3.
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Finish the Drawings – Worksheets
20 drawings that have been started, but still need to be finished!
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Alphabet Handwriting Sheets - Including Non-Examples
Handwriting sheets with opportunities for students to trace, identify and write the letters of the alphabet.
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Personal Recount Sequencing Activity - Surprise!
A worksheet to use in the classroom when learning the sequence of a personal recount.
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Supplementary Angles – Year 6 Maths Worksheet
Teach your students to identify and calculate supplementary angles with this one-page maths worksheet.
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Harmony Day Word Jumble Worksheet
A worksheet to use as a Harmony Day resource for all grades.