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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Seasons, Days, & Months of the Year Spelling Worksheet
Spell the days of the week, months of the year, and the four seasons with a printable Spelling Homework sheet.
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Fennec Fox Adaptations - Close Reading Worksheets
Read and learn about Fennec Fox adaptations with a set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Year 5.
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Planet Fact File Pack with Comprehension Worksheets
Learn the facts of each of the planets in our solar system with these planet fact file sheets and accompanying comprehension worksheets.
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Ordering Days of the Week Worksheets
Practise ordering weekdays with a set of printable Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Days of the Week Worksheets.
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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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Adding and Subtracting Decimals – Differentiated Mystery Image Worksheets
Have students practise adding and subtracting decimals with this mystery image worksheet.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals Word Problems Worksheet
Practise solving word problems by adding and subtracting decimals to the thousandths place with this worksheet.
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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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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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Persuasive Device Definitions – Match-Up Worksheet
Have students match the persuasive devices with their definitions using this simple one-page worksheet.
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Drawing Arrays Worksheet Pack
Review how to draw an array with your students as they complete this worksheet pack.
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Skip Counting and Multiplication Differentiated Worksheet
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise using skip counting to solve multiplication expressions.
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Multiplication Using Arrays Worksheet
Encourage your students to practise multiplication using arrays with this worksheet.
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What Needs Soil to Grow? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Teach students what needs soil to grow with this cut-and-paste worksheet for early years students.
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Fishing Odd or Even Numbers Worksheets
Go fishing for odd and even numbers with your students using this set of three worksheets.
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Empathy vs. Sympathy Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Challenge your students to learn the differences between empathy and sympathy with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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Persuasive Devices Worksheet Pack
Explore persuasive language techniques with your students using this nine-page worksheet pack perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
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Right Angle Turn Patterns Worksheet
Teach your students to make shape patterns using right angle turns with this differentiated maths worksheet for Year 3 students.
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Colour by Number - Mixed 1 - 12 Division
An engaging activity to consolidate your students' understanding of division facts.
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I Spy Odd and Even Number Worksheet
Practise determining odd and even numbers of objects with this fun scavenger hunt worksheet.
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Reading Comprehension Worksheets - The History of Electricity
Read to learn about the history of electricity with printable reading comprehension worksheets.
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Spooky Subtraction Colour by Number - Worksheet
Bring some spooky maths fun into the classroom with a Halloween colour-by-number worksheet focused on subtracting four-digit numbers.
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Animal Adaptations - Worksheet Pack
Use these animal adaptation worksheets when teaching students about the structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations of animals.
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Think Addition - Fact Family Worksheets
Use addition to solve subtraction problems with this worksheet.
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Fractions Worksheet Pack – Differentiated
Practise partitioning shapes, shading in fraction models, representing fractions on a number line and more with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Fractions Number Line - Halves, Fifths and Tenths
Demonstrate the concept of fractions on a number line with a printable number line display and student reference sheets.
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Greek and Latin Roots- Vocabulary Notebook
Enhance vocabulary containing Greek and Latin roots with a Google Slides Interactive vocabulary notebook. Also available in print format.
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Adding and Subtracting Integers - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the positive and negative number code with four adding and subtracting integers worksheets.
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Addition Strategies: Make a Ten Worksheet
A 2-page worksheet that uses ten frames to model the “making ten” addition strategy.
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Earth Watch: Protecting Native Plants and Animals – Comprehension Worksheet
Build comprehension skills and learn about human impact on ecosystems with a reading passage and worksheets.
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Map of the World - Labelling Activity
Discover and label the world's continents and oceans with this blank map of the world.
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Create Your Own Map - Worksheet
Create simple maps of familiar places with this set of map templates and accompanying comprehension questions.