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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Hooray Arrays! Multiplication Worksheet Pack
Download this set of array worksheets to use when teaching your students how to relate addition and multiplication.
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Skip Counting by 2,3,4,5, & 10 Mystery Picture
Have your students uncover a mystery picture by solving skip counting problems to and multiply by 2,3,4,5 & 10.
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Daily Maths Word Problems - Year 5
A set of 20 problem solving questions suited to year 5 students.
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Colour by 2D Shape (Basic Shapes)
A set of five colour by shape worksheets.
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Identifying Procedural Language Worksheets
Help your students identify procedural language with this set of three worksheets.
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Fact or Opinion - Sentence Sort Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to distinguish between fact or opinion.
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Fact or Opinion - Turtle Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to distinguish between fact or opinion.
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Measuring Length with Dinosaur Footprints Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring and measuring length with informal units.
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Sequencing Activity - Roald Dahl (Informative Text)
A sequencing task using an informative text.
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Identify Unit Fractions Worksheets
Colour the different fraction units to show different unit fractions with this set of worksheets perfect for your budding mathematicians.
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Making Monsters Subtraction - Worksheet
Have some spooky subtraction fun with three differentiated Halloween subtraction worksheets.
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Year 4 Mental Maths Drills Booklet
Jump into your maths lessons with this ten-page maths mentals booklet covering the four operations and number patterns.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 2
6 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Colour-Coding Summarising Nonfiction Text Worksheets
Practise summarising small nonfiction texts with this fun colour-coding set of worksheets.
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Exploring Rotational Symmetry Worksheets - Drawing Prompts
Encourage creativity and practice knowledge of rotational symmetry with a set of exciting symmetry drawing worksheets.
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Area Worksheets
4 area worksheets.
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Fractions on a Number Line Worksheets
Represent fractions greater than zero and less than or equal to one with a pack of fraction number line worksheets.
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Differentiated Number Pattern Worksheets for Year 3
Use this differentiated year 3 maths worksheet to allow students to practise completing number patterns and determining their rules.
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Skip Counting Worksheet — Counting by 2, 5 and 10
Practise counting by 2, 5 and 10 with this skip counting worksheet.
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Word Work Grid and Worksheets – Version 1
A grid with spelling activities and corresponding worksheets.
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Comprehension - What are Earthquakes?
A comprehension activity about 'What are Earthquakes?'
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Tenths and Hundredths as Decimals Worksheet Pack
Get your students representing tenths and hundredths as decimals using concrete models, visual models and money with this set of Year 4 maths worksheets.
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Level 1 Decodable Readers - Worksheet Pack
A set of one-pager worksheet versions of the texts from our Level 1 decodable readers.
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2-Digit by 1-Digit Multiplication Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise multiplying 2-digit numbers by 1-digit.
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Sequence a Procedure Text – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these procedural writing examples to teach your students about sequencing instructions in a logical order.
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Equal Groups Multiplication Worksheets
Reinforce how to relate equal group models and multiplication with this printable worksheet pack.
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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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Linking Addition and Subtraction Worksheet
Explore the relationship between addition and subtraction with a fact family worksheet.
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Skip Counting Robot Worksheets - 2s, 5s and 10s
A set of 4 robot themed worksheets to help students skip count by 2s, 5s and 10s.
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Compare and Order Decimals Worksheet
Build decimal place value understanding with a printable worksheet for comparing and ordering decimals.
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Handwriting Sheets - Theme Pages 1
Ten themed handwriting sheets with your choice of fonts.
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Introduction to Unit Fractions Worksheet Pack
Introduce your students to unit fractions with this set of teacher-created worksheets.