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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Pre-Handwriting Worksheets
A collection of 18 pre-handwriting skill sheets with a range of different techniques and themes.
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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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Back to School Word Scramble Worksheet
Start the first day with an engaging Back to School Word Scramble Worksheet.
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Year 3 NAPLAN Test Practice - Language Conventions - Spelling
Get ready for the test with Year 3 NAPLAN Test Practice Sheets.
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Who’s in Your Circle? Icebreaker Activity
Help your students find like-minded friends on the first day of school with a ‘Who’s in Your Circle?’ icebreaker activity.
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Santa’s New Sleigh - Christmas STEM Activity
Design and build a new sleigh for Santa with a printable Christmas STEM project.
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End of Year - Build a Board Game STEM Project
Make classroom games that review learned content with an end-of-year S.T.E.M. project.
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Addition and Subtraction Minute Maths Booklet
A maths warm-up booklet with ten pages of addition and subtraction questions.
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Christmas Mini-Mystery - Who Put Up Their Christmas Tree Too Early?
Read clues to solve a mystery with this fun, logic-based Christmas-themed activity.
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Writing the Alphabet Chart - Tracing
A chart to assist students when learning how to form letters.
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Multisyllabic Word List Resource Pack
Print and use a multisyllabic word list to introduce your students to more complex words and syllable patterns.
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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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Dot-to-Dot Alphabet Worksheets
Use this set of 3 dot-to-dot worksheets to get your youngest students practising their recognition of the alphabet.
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Free Telling Time to the Minute Worksheets
A worksheet for telling time to the minute and converting between analogue and digital times.
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Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives Cut and Paste Worksheet
Have some fun identifying parts of speech by sorting school-themed nouns, verbs, and adjectives with a cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Santa's Workshop Job Application
Bring a bit of holiday cheer to your persuasive writing lessons by having your students complete a Santa's Workshop job application.
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Great Barrier Reef Comprehension and Note Taking Worksheet
Learn about The Great Barrier Reef with a reading comprehension and note-taking activity.
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Phases of the Moon – Comprehension Worksheet
Analyse different moon phases and how their visual appearances change over time with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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Chook, Chook, Chook, Chook - Number Rhyme and Worksheet
A 1 - 10 number rhyme and accompanying worksheet.
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Epic Editing Workbook – Year 2
Use these Year 2 editing worksheets to get your students practising and refining their proofreading skills.
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Epic Editing Workbook – Year 5 and Year 6
Use this edit a paragraph worksheet pack to get your students practising and refining their proofreading skills.
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Persuasive Writing Worksheets - Would You Rather?
Explore persuasive writing with these persuasive writing worksheets - would you rather exercise.
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Single Digit Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
Share these single digit addition and subtraction worksheets with your foundation students to give them practice adding and subtracting with a wide variety of representations.
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Printable SMART Goals Template
Start the school year by having your students use a printable template to set their own S.M.A.R.T. goals.
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Number of the Day Worksheet
Explore 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6-digit numbers using this number of the day worksheet with your students.
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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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Making Monsters Subtraction - Worksheet
Have some spooky subtraction fun with three differentiated Halloween subtraction worksheets.
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Year 6 Mental Maths Drills Workbook
Incorporate this mental maths drills booklet into your maths lesson warm-up routine.
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Adapt a Short Story – Change the Complication
Explore the role the complication of a story plays within narrative structure with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Auslan Fingerspellathon
A worksheet and participation certificate to use when learning how to use the Auslan Fingerspelling Alphabet.
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CVC Beginning and Ending Letters Worksheet Pack
Practise identifying missing beginning and ending sounds and letters in this set of 10 CVC worksheets.
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Types of Graphs Posters and Worksheets
A collection of posters displaying the different types of graphs along with matching worksheets to assist students with laying out graphs on the page.