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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Cartesian Planes Worksheets
Utilise this Cartesian plane worksheet set to give your students practise locating and plotting points on the Cartesian plane.
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Halloween Riddles - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the code and solve some seriously funny Halloween riddles with a set of printable Codebreaker worksheets.
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Symmetry Drawing Worksheet Pack
Teach your students about symmetry using this series of drawing worksheets where they must copy an image symmetrically using grid lines for reference.
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Jump Strategy Addition Worksheet Pack
Practise using the jump strategy with this worksheet set.
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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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Recognising Australian Coins – Worksheet
Explore Australian coins with this simple worksheet.
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Compass Directions Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring grids, grid references and direction.
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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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Year 5 Multiplication Strategies Worksheet Pack
Sharpen computation skills with this multiplication strategies worksheet pack.
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Story Writing Prompt Worksheets
Use these early years story writing worksheets with picture prompts and word banks with your early writers.
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Compound Sentences Worksheet Pack
Build your students' knowledge of using coordinating conjunctions using this compound sentences worksheet pack.
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Multiplication and Division Practice by 2s Worksheet Pack
Incorporate multiplication and division practice in your classroom with this Year 2 worksheet pack that helps teachers strengthen students’ fluency with the two times table and related division facts using doubling and halving strategies.
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Persuasive Writing Examples and Analysis Worksheet
Use these persuasive writing examples to teach your students how purpose, structure and language features work together in strong persuasive texts.
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Area Model Multiplication Worksheets
Guide your students to use the area model when solving multi-digit multiplication problems with this 20-page worksheet pack.
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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
Practise calculating area with this area worksheet pack, designed to help students apply area formulas to a variety of 2D shapes.
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Differentiated Number Pattern Worksheets for Year 3 and 4
Use this differentiated year 3 maths worksheet to allow students to practise completing number patterns and determining their rules.
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Exploring Poetry Workbook
Teach your students about all things poetry with this jam-packed poetry workbook created especially for primary school students.
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Rotational Symmetry of Shapes Year 4 Worksheet
Use this two-page rotational symmetry worksheet consolidate student understanding of this geometry (space) concept.
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Verb Suffixes Worksheets (s, ed, ing)
Download these suffix worksheets to help students confidently identify and apply the verb tense suffixes -s, -ed and -ing.
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Describe a Story Setting Worksheets
Download these engaging story setting worksheets that help students brainstorm descriptive language and write vivid setting descriptions with ease.
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Blank Function Table Template
Grab this function table template set to create a wide variety of input/output activities that will have your students thinking algebraically.
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12/24 Hour Time Conversions - Practice Sheets
Review how to convert between 12 and 24-hour times with a set of printable Year 5 Maths worksheets.
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Interpreting Line Graphs Worksheet Pack
Use this set of 4 Grade 5 worksheets to help students practise interpreting real-life data represented as a line graph.
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Multiplication and Division Minute Maths Booklet
Implement this maths mentals booklet with ten pages of multiplication and division questions.
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Year 5 Fractions and Decimals Worksheets
Use these fractions and decimals worksheets in your Year 5 classroom for independent practice or as an assessment activity.
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Measuring Mass with Informal Units Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring mass and how to measure it with informal units.
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Cursive Handwriting Fluency Sheets
Fifteen handwriting sheets for upper primary.
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Poem Analysis Worksheet Pack – Year 5 and 6
Strengthen poetry analysis skills with this set of engaging poems for upper primary students, accompanied by analysis worksheets exploring purpose, audience, structure, sound devices and figurative language.
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Who, What, Where Simple Sentence Mini Book
Use this simple sentence mini book to help students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
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Year 3 Multiplication and Division Worksheet Pack
Strengthen multiplication and division understanding with this worksheet pack that helps students represent, solve and create multiplication and division situations in a variety of ways.
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Making 10 and 20 Number Bonds Worksheet Pack
Strengthen number bonds skills with a differentiated worksheet pack that helps students build addition and subtraction fluency using part-part-whole relationships.