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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Multiplication and Division Speed Drill Worksheets – Facts of 6
A set of worksheets to help students develop fast and accurate recall of the six times tables.
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Write a Short Story – The Quest
Get your students analysing and writing a quest story with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Fast Finishers' Folder - Middle Primary
Twenty-one activities for your fast finishers.
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The Australian Aboriginal Flag Poster and Worksheet
Print this Australian Aboriginal Flag poster and worksheet for your classroom.
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Hansel and Gretel – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Location and Transformation Worksheets - Year 2
6 location and transformation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Chance Worksheets - Year 2
2 chance worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Data Representation and Interpretation Worksheets - Year 1
Two data representation and interpretation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Skip Counting Robot Worksheets - 2s, 5s and 10s
A set of 4 robot themed worksheets to help students skip count by 2s, 5s and 10s.
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Integers Polygon Puzzle
A puzzle using positive and negative numbers in number sentences.
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Getting to Know You Worksheet for Upper Years
Use our printable getting to know you worksheet to learn more about your new upper year students on the first day of school.
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Parts of a Book Worksheets
Use these parts of a book worksheets for students to identify the various parts of a book.
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Picture Story Sequencing Worksheets
Help your students build strong visual literacy skills with these Picture Story Sequencing cut and paste worksheet pack.
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Comparing Unit Fractions Worksheets
Compare different unit fractions using this teacher-created set of worksheets.
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Compound-Complex Sentence Test
Assess your students' understanding of compound-complex sentences with a printable Compound-Complex Sentence Test.
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Year 1 Spelling Words - Weekly Lists
Create successful spellers with printable weekly spelling word lists for Year 1.
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Choosing Units of Measurement - Length Worksheets (Differentiated)
Identify the unit of measurement needed to measure the length of an object with a pack of ‘Choosing Units of Measurement’ Worksheets.
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Identify and Colour 2D Shapes Worksheet
Use this 2D shapes worksheet to help your students identify 8 of the most common two-dimensional shapes.
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Combining Words - Compound Nouns Worksheet
Combine word parts to build compound nouns with a printable compound word worksheet.
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Echidna Adaptations – Reading Worksheet Pack
Discover the adaptations of the echidna with a printable reading passage and comprehension worksheet pack.
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Platypus Adaptations - Reading Passage & Questions
Learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations of the platypus with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for Years 3-5.
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Comparing and Ordering Decimals Worksheet
Get students comparing and ordering decimals to the thousandths place with this printable worksheet.
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Data Collection Worksheet Set
Use this set of differentiated graphs worksheets to assess your students’ understanding of how data is collected, organised and presented.
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Number Forms Worksheet (Up to 5 Digits)
Help students practice recognising and writing numbers in word form and expanded form with this worksheet.
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Managing Big Emotions – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Empower students to identify and manage big emotions with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets for early years students.
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Skip Counting Worksheets (Fill in the Blanks)
Excerpt: Use this set of skip counting worksheets to check student understanding of skip counting in increasing intervals of 5, 10 and 100.
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Internal and External Character Traits - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the internal and external traits of story characters with this differentiated cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Narrative Elements - Worksheet
Practise identifying characters, settings, problems and solutions in fictional texts with this set of worksheets.
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3D Object Detective - Worksheet
Explore the properties of some common three-dimensional objects with this printable worksheet.
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Finding The Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Turtles)
Explore the wonderful world of turtles with this comprehension task focusing on the main idea.
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Hop on Number Lines - Worksheet Pack
Hop your way to addition mastery with a pack of two addition on a number line worksheets.
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Real World Applications of Positive and Negative Numbers – Worksheet
Use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world scenarios with this worksheet.