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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Cursive Handwriting Worksheets – Days, Months, Colours and Numbers
Trace and write days of the week, months of the year, number words, and colour words in cursive.
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Animals in Winter - Year 1 Reading Worksheets
Blend Year 1 Science and Reading with a printable pack of Animals in Winter reading comprehension worksheets.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Word Problems Worksheets
Calculate time between events with a set of printable elapsed time worksheets.
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Conductors of Electricity Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Challenge your students to show what they know about electrical conductors with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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4-Digit Number Riddles Cut and Paste
Use these 4-digit number worksheets to help students practise matching numbers up to 10 000 with their word and expanded forms.
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Heat Transfer Methods Worksheet Pack
Learn about the different ways heat can be transferred using this guided set of heat transfer worksheets.
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Vowel Teams Phonics Journal
Help students remember and record words and examples of different vowel digraphs during your phonics lessons.
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Match the Arrays Worksheet Pack
Give your students practise matching arrays and multiplication facts with these math worksheets for Year 3.
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Class Compliments - SEL Worksheets
Encourage kindness and boost morale by creating a wall of compliments for each student with a printable self-esteem activity.
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What Are Floods? Comprehension Worksheet
Read and learn about flooding with a printable reading comprehension worksheet.
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Heat Conductors and Insulators Sorting Worksheet
Explore materials and everyday items as heat conductors or heat insulators during your heat energy unit plan with this cut-and paste worksheet.
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Perimeter Practice Problems With Visuals – Worksheet
Download these perimeter practice problems to use when exploring measurement concepts in your maths lessons.
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Santa's New Sleigh – Christmas 2D Shapes Worksheet
Design Santa a new sleigh using 2D Shapes with a fun Christmas maths worksheet.
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My Favourite Season Worksheet
Activate your students' prior knowledge about the seasons using this worksheet which prompts them to state which is their favourite season and justify their choice.
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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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3-Digit Number Expander Template (Bat)
Explore 3-digit numbers with this cute foldable bat number expander for your students.
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Remembrance Day Poem Template - Acrostic
Show appreciation on Remembrance Day with commemorative Acrostic Poems with this printable acrostic poem template.
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My Feelings Volcano Worksheet
Prevent students from being overcome by strong emotions with this volcano-themed coping skills worksheet.
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Adverbial Phrases Comprehension Task: The Secret Garden
Help your students identify adverb groups in descriptive writing with this comprehension worksheet.
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Adverbial Phrases Roll and Write Activity
Along with your students, roll and write your way to hilarious silly sentences with adverb phrases with this printable worksheet!
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Adjectives and Adverbs Worksheets (Silly Stories)
Have fun with your students creating silly stories together while teaching and learning about parts of speech (adverbs and adjectives)!
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Estimating Sums and Differences With Decimals Worksheet for Year 6
Teach your students how to estimate decimal sums and differences with this year 6 maths worksheet.
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Spin, Tally, Graph and Interpret Data Task Card Activity
Guide your students to collect data, make tally marks, create a column graph and analyse data with this maths activity.
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Halloween Tracing Numbers Worksheets
Trace and write numbers to twenty with a set of spooky Halloween tracing numbers worksheets.
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Create Your Own Grandparents' Day Poem Pack
Write a special Grandparents’ Day Poem with our printable Kenning poem worksheet pack.
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Rounding Decimals Worksheet Set
Practise rounding numbers to the nearest whole, tenth, hundredth and thousandth with this worksheet set.
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Water Sources Cut and Paste Sorting Worksheet
Explore the different water sources using this cut and paste worksheet pack.
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Finish the Drawing - Worksheets
Get creative and finish the drawings with a set of five art worksheets.
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Ocean Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create an ocean food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Main Idea Nonfiction Worksheets
Use these main idea nonfiction worksheets to help students confidently identify key ideas and supporting details in engaging, real-world texts.
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Equations, Tables, and Graphs, Oh My! – Differentiated Worksheets
Use these differentiated worksheets to practise using equations to create patterns within input-output tables and graphs.
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Worksheet Set — Rounding Using a Vertical Number Line
Use a vertical number line to round whole numbers to the tens, hundreds, and thousands place with a pack of differentiated rounding worksheets.