Worksheets for Teachers
Did someone say printable worksheets? From 2nd-grade math worksheets and 4th-grade reading comprehension worksheets to Common Core worksheets 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 elementary grade levels.
Explore printable activities, free worksheets, homework sheets and more — 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 individualized instruction was gaining traction, and educators recognized 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 individualized 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, practicing 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 markers 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 markers!
- Use digital worksheets. Allow students to fill out their worksheets on classroom tablets as a means to add an extra level of engagement.
- Focus on rigor. It's important to differentiate instruction, and the worksheets assigned to students should be appropriate to their needs — but they should not just be busy work. Ensure there's a challenge at hand to hold kids' attention!
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 — primary-aged students can work on their fine motor skills with our mini book, cut and paste worksheets, and more while their older elementary peers get pulled into the fun of vocabulary fun with word searches and crossword puzzle worksheets.
Printable puzzles engage students in the form of a brain game, and color by worksheets bring art elements into math 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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Sequence Persuasive Text Examples – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this example persuasive text pack to teach your students about sequencing arguments in a logical order.
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Spring Is Here Poem – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a poem about the season of spring.
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Information Text Structure Worksheet – The Apple iPad
Teach your students about informational text structure with this cut-and-paste sequencing worksheet.
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Skip Counting Worksheet Pack
Support early number learning with this skip‑counting worksheet pack, designed to help students recognize, continue, and create skip‑counting patterns using a range of visual representations.
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Character Emotions Worksheet
Make inferences about character's feelings with this one-page worksheet.
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Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion Task Cards and Worksheets
Use these engaging task cards to help your students distinguish between fact and opinion when reading various texts.
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100 Days of School Activity Book
A fun booklet of activities for students to complete on their 100th day of school.
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What's On Your Plate Worksheet
A worksheet that helps students reflect on their eating habits.
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Latitude and Longitude Worksheet
Use this free latitude and longitude worksheet along with Google Maps to teach your students about longitude and latitude.
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Step by Step Introductory Worksheet for Coding - Pirate Adventure
A worksheet for students to use when learning how to write a simple code.
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Build an Animal Fact File – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this set of 5 writing prompts to assess your students’ informative writing skills.
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Reading Connections Worksheet Set
Build deep comprehension skills with this engaging Reading Connections Worksheet set.
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Comparing Characters Activity Pack
Use this Comparing Characters Activity Pack to help students strengthen their reading comprehension by analyzing how characters act, feel, and speak within a story.
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Reversible and Irreversible Changes Test (5-6)
Assess your students on their knowledge of changes in matter with a printable Reversible and Irreversible Changes Test.
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Making Connections with Literacy Texts Pack
Use this Making Connections to Literary Texts Pack to help students deepen their comprehension by linking stories to their own experiences, other texts, and the world around them.
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Simple Sentences Cut and Paste Worksheets
Build confident early readers with this engaging Simple Sentence Cut and Paste Worksheet Set.
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Division Worksheets
Build division confidence with these differentiated division worksheets.
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Writing Simple Sentences - Write the Room Activity
Use this simple sentence writing activity to learn how to write simple sentences with words around the room
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Story vs Opinion Cut and Sort Pack
Help students understand the difference between a story sentence and an opinion sentence with this cut and paste worksheet set.
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Mixture vs New Substance Worksheets
Help your 5th and 6th grade students understand the difference between mixtures and new substances with this printable Mixtures vs New Substances worksheet pack.
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Inference Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this cut-and-paste worksheet to practice inferring using images with your early reader.
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Learning Dispositions Reflection Worksheets – Lower Grades
Support student self-reflection with this set of 10 engaging worksheets that encourage young learners to consider how they apply a range of learning dispositions.
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Recycling Plastic and Glass Worksheet Pack
Explore the role of heat in recycling materials and boost reading comprehension skills with a Recycling Plastic and Glass worksheet pack.
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Searching For Natural and Processed Materials Activity
Explore the environment, identify common materials, and learn where they come from with a scavenger-hunt-styled Natural and Processed Materials Activity.
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Nouns Worksheet Pack
Use these noun worksheets to support students in identifying and using nouns within sentences.
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Verb Worksheet Pack
Use this set of engaging verb worksheets to explore verbs in the Kindergarten classroom.
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Personal Recounts Sequencing Worksheet Pack
Use this set of simple personal recounts to help students learn the structure of a recount by reading, identifying key features, and sequencing events into the correct order.
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Parts of Speech Fill-in-the-Blanks Worksheets
Use this set of fun fill-in-the-blanks mad lib parts of speech worksheets to explore parts of speech in a fun way.
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Addition and Subtraction with Ten Frames Worksheet Pack
Practice adding and subtracting numbers to twenty using ten frames.
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Natural and Man-Made Materials Worksheets
Introduce your students to different materials and their properties with these Natural and Man-Made Materials Worksheets.
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Recycling With Heat Worksheet
Explore how reversible and irreversible changes lend themself to recycling with a printable Recycling With Heat Worksheet.
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Information Report Text Examples and Worksheet Pack
Use this set of 5 information report text examples and 2 targeted worksheets to support your students in breaking down and understanding informative writing.