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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Boston Tea Party - RACES Writing Strategy Worksheet
Integrate reading, writing, and American history with a worksheet about the Boston Tea Party using the RACES writing strategy for text evidence.
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Amelia Earhart Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this passage, second grade writing prompt, and worksheet to help students write a constructed response paragraph about Amelia Earhart.
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Living or Nonliving? - Worksheet
A worksheet that explores living and nonliving things.
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Readers' Theater Script - Creepy Cat Club
A script which can be used during readers' theater or Drama sessions, aimed at students in 4th grade or higher.
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Comprehension - Stop Polluting The Ocean
A comprehension activity using a persuasive text.
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Classifying and Measuring Angles Activity
Introduce this classifying and measuring angles matching activity to your students to give them engaging, hands-on practice with key geometry concepts.
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Blank Input Output Tables Template Set
Grab this blank input output tables template set to create a wide variety of function table activities that will have your students thinking algebraically.
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Scientific Method Worksheet - Vocabulary Match
Use a Scientific Method Worksheet to review key science experiment vocabulary words.
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Sink or Float Worksheet - Kindergarten Science Worksheet
Identify objects that sink and float with a printable Sink or Float worksheet for Kindergarten.
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Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
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Compound Words Vocabulary Foldable
Create a fun Compound Word foldable with a printable template for your students’ interactive notebooks.
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Compound Words List Resource Pack
Introduce your students to different levels and types of compound words with a pack of printable compound words list.
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Halloween Mystery Escape - Multiplication and Division for 5th Grade
Uncover the identify of the thief who stole the pumpkin projects with a printable 5th-grade multiplication and division Halloween Mystery escape room activity.
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Should Smartphones Be Allowed in Class? Comprehension Worksheets
Decide if cellphones should be allowed in class and boost comprehension skills with a reading passage and comprehension test.
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Search and Find – Back to School
Start the school year with a fun Back to School math activity for first graders.
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I Set My Boundaries Worksheets
Identify your personal space boundaries with this worksheet set.
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Asking for Help Comic Strip Template
Discuss how and who to go to for help using this comic strip template.
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Labeling the Continents and Oceans Worksheets
Turn geography into a fun and educational learning experience by using our free Continents and Oceans worksheets!
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Grammar Grid Mystery Picture Worksheet- Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives (Bunny)
Follow the color-coded parts of speech guide to fill in the word grid and reveal a mystery image.
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Back to School Today! Poem for Kids
Ease back-to-school jitters and launch your students into a love of poetry with a short poem for kids written just for the first day of school!
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Hundreds Board Mystery Picture Division Task Cards
Reveal a mystery picture by solving division problems with this set of 32 task cards.
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Identifying Parts of Speech (Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs) Worksheet Pack
Practice identifying nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs in text with this set of worksheets.
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Tracing Numbers 0-20
Practice writing numbers 0–20 with this tracing activity.
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Representing Two-Digit Numbers - Place Value Worksheet
A set of worksheets for students to use when learning about place value and the different way two-digit numbers can be represented.
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Color by Number Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
Combine math and art with our color by number addition and subtraction worksheets that feature problems with solutions up to 20.
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Greatest Common Factor Worksheets
Download our greatest common factor worksheets for varied practice finding the GCF of two and three digit numbers.
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Making Connections Worksheet Set
Allow your students to record their connections to a particular text with this Making Connections Worksheet set.
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Building 3D Shapes With Blocks Activity
Download this building 3D shapes activity for an engaging way to increase your students' spatial sense and 3D modeling abilities.
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Helpful Honey Bees Worksheet Pack - 2nd Grade
Read and learn about honey bees with a Printable Honey Bees Worksheet Pack for second grade.
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Making Predictions from Sentences Worksheets
Practice making predictions with sentences using this set of making predictions worksheets.
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Novel Study – Making Predictions Before Reading Worksheet
Make predictions before reading a novel with this novel study worksheet.
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Metric Conversion Worksheet Set
Utilize our metric conversion worksheet set to give your students practice converting units of metric length, mass, and capacity.