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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5 Star Sentence Writing Pack
Use this 5 star writing checklist teaching pack to help students develop strong writing habits with a simple, effective checklist and engaging worksheets.
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Reading Making Predictions Worksheet Pack
Practise reading and making predictions with this Reading Making Predictions Worksheet Pack.
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Converting Capacity Worksheet Set
Assign these converting capacity worksheet pages to give your students essential practice converting metric units of capacity.
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Verb Group Hunt Worksheet Pack
Explore verb groups with your students using this verb group hunt worksheet pack.
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Heavy and Light Worksheet Pack
Practise knowledge of heavy and light with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Choosing Metric Units of Length - Worksheets
Determine which metric unit of measurement should be used to measure objects with a set of Year 3 Maths worksheets.
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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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Counting 1-20 Worksheet Pack
Practise counting to 20 with this set of worksheets ready to go!
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Animal Adaptations for Kids - Worksheet Pack
Identify and label different animal features and discover how these adaptations help animals survive with a pack of printable lift-the-flap matching worksheets.
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Unit Fraction Staircase Worksheet
Learn about different unit fractions with this staircase style worksheet for students.
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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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Places I Belong Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Encourage students to think of the different places they feel a sense of belonging at school and in the home environment.
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Alphabet of Diversity Worksheet
Celebrate diversity in your classroom with this alphabet of diversity worksheet.
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Multiplying with Decimals – Differentiated Worksheets
Strengthen computation skills with this set of decimal multiplication 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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Multiplication Using Arrays Worksheet
Encourage your students to practise multiplication using arrays with this worksheet.
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For The Fallen - Remembrance Day Poem & Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Read and analyse Binyon's poem, 'For the Fallen' with a printable Remembrance Day poem and comprehension worksheet.
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How to Write 2-Digit and 3-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Explore how to represent number values in standard form, word form, expanded form, and picture form with this multipurpose place value worksheet.
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Women In World War One Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Read to learn about women in World War I with a printable reading passage and comprehension worksheet.
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Personal Identity Activity (My Identity Wheel)
Explore personal identity by completing this personal identity wheel template.
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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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Producer, Consumer, Decomposer - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the role of producers, consumers and decomposers within ecosystems with this comprehension task.
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Creating Pictographs Worksheet
Use this engaging worksheet to practice creating and reading pictographs.
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Responsibilities of Australian Local Governments - Cloze Worksheet
Explore the roles and responsibilities of local governments around Australia with this differentiated cloze passage worksheet.
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Real-World 3D Objects - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore three-dimensional objects in the real world with this cut-and-paste 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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Area of a Triangle – Worksheet
Practise applying maths formulas with this area of a triangle worksheet.
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Factor Pairs – Worksheet
Find factor pairs to 100 with this maths worksheet.
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How Many Bears? Graphing – Worksheet
A hands-on picture graph worksheet for students to sort and count coloured bears.
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Apostrophe of Possession Worksheet
A 2 page worksheet to help students consolidate their understanding of the apostrophe of possession.
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Complete the Sentences – Worksheets for Beginning Writers
A set of 10 worksheets for students to practise completing simple sentences.
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Tenterfield Oration - Fact Sheet and Comprehension
A fact sheet and comprehension task to use when learning about The Tenterfield Oration.