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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Desert Animal Adaptations - Trading Card Templates
Discover amazing desert animals’ adaptations and display your learning with printable animal trading card templates.
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Australian Animals — Adaptations Worksheets
Research and write about amazing animal adaptations with our Australian Animals Adaptation 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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A Letter to My Teacher Activity
Get to know your students a bit better using a ‘Letter to Teacher’ template.
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Kind or Unkind Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Explore kind and unkind scenarios with your students using this engaging cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Vowel Digraphs Worksheet Pack
Practise writing and enhancing knowledge of vowel digraphs with this worksheet pack.
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Forms of Energy (Heat, Light and Sound) Worksheet
Guide your students to identify different forms of energy with this cut and paste worksheet.
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Electrical Insulators Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Discover the shockingly interesting world of electrical insulators with our downloadable reading comprehension worksheet.
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How Do Circuits Work? Worksheet for Year 6
Guide your students to create a diagram that shows complete and incomplete circuits and explain their function with this worksheet.
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Finding Patterns in Addition Charts (Odd and Even Numbers) Worksheet
Explore odd and even number patterns using an addition chart with your students.
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Adverb Worksheet Pack
Assign your students this fun worksheet pack to reinforce their understanding of adverbs (you can even create an adverbs workbook!).
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Symmetry Pattern Design Worksheet
Have your students create real-world symmetrical representations using this 3-page symmetry worksheet set and a tub of pattern blocks.
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Fire Safety for Kids - Kitchen Safety Worksheets
Identify the hidden fire hazards and dangers in the kitchen with printable kitchen safety worksheets.
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Plant Adaptations - Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Read and learn about unusual plants and their adaptations with a pack of printable reading comprehension worksheets.
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Innovative Inventors - Year 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Meet famous inventors in history with this informational text and comprehension questions activity
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Adding within 1000 Mystery Image Reveal Worksheet
Practise using the bar model to work out addition sums within 1000 with this fun mystery picture reveal activity.
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The Australian Citizenship Pledge - Cloze Worksheet
Familiarise your students with the Australian citizenship pledge with this cloze passage worksheet.
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100 More, 100 Less Worksheets - Cut and Paste Maths Activity
Use an understanding of place value to determine a number 100 more or less than a number with a pair of cut-and-paste maths worksheets.
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One More, One Less - Worksheet
Practise foundational addition and subtraction facts using the concepts of one more and one less.
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Finding the Main Idea in Nonfiction Text Worksheet
Identify supporting evidence for the main idea of an informational text passage and answer the comprehension questions.
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3 Digit Subtraction Worksheets - Subtraction Strategy Practise
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with a pack of printable worksheets covering various strategies for 3-digit subtraction.
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Colour By 3D Objects - Worksheet
Practise identifying 3D objects and their attributes with a printable code-based colouring task!
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Australia's Levels of Government - Workbook
Learn the duties and leaders of the national, state, and local levels of government with a printable government workbook.
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Re- Prefix Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of the “Re-” prefix with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
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Number Patterns – More and Less Worksheets
Use place value skills to mentally add and subtract 10 or 100 to a given number with this set of worksheets.
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Life Cycle of a Bean Activity Pack
Organise, record, and display information about the life cycle of a bean with these activity templates.
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Ecological Footprint Draw and Write
Help your students be more eco-conscious by having them complete a carbon footprint worksheet.
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Earth, Sun and Moon – Comprehension Worksheet
Read about and compare physical characteristics of the Eath, sun and moon with this reading comprehension sheet.
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Integers on Number Lines - Worksheet
Identify and plot integers on a number line with a positive and negative number worksheet.
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Count and Colour Sounds - Phoneme Counting Worksheets
Count and colour the images that have 3 phonemes, 4 phonemes and 5 phonemes in this worksheet set.
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World Mapping Workbook
Develop mapping skills by plotting key features and locations onto a map of the world.
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Acclimatised Civilisations: Australia – Workbook
Learn about the physical and human geography of the continent of Australia with this inquiry-based mapping activity.