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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Describing Animal Adaptations - Informative Writing Prompt Worksheets
Write to describe animals and their adaptations with a printable pack of informative writing worksheets.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice reading and writing 4-digit numbers with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Resilience Writing Prompts
Use this set of resilience writing prompts to help your students reflect upon times they have observed resilience in themselves and others.
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What Needs Soil to Grow? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Teach students what needs soil to grow with this cut-and-paste worksheet for Kindergarten students.
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Writing the Alphabet - Handwriting Worksheet
Practice penmanship by tracing and writing uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Self-Esteem Survey Worksheet
Explore self-esteem with your students with this self-esteem survey.
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What Good Friends Do – Differentiated Friendship Worksheets
Sort verbs according to if they are friendly or unfriendly interactions with this friendship worksheet.
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Reading a Map Worksheet
Develop elementary grade map skills with a map-reading worksheet.
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Exploring Figurative Language in Poetry Workbook
Teach your upper elementary and middle school students to read, analyze, and discuss poetry with a printable and digital poetry workbook.
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Forms of Energy (Heat, Light and Sound) Worksheet
Identify different forms of energy with this cut and paste worksheet.
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Natural or Man-made? - Worksheet
Distinguish between natural and man-made resources with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Character Development – Fakebook Page Worksheet
Use research and creative writing skills to design a social media profile for fiction or nonfiction persons.
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Telling Time - 1st Grade Math Coloring Sheet
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Color By Code worksheet!
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Places I Belong Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Encourage students to think of the different places they feel a sense of belonging at school and in the home environment.
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Free Shapes Worksheets for Kindergarten
Print your free Shapes Worksheets for kindergarten to practice shape identification.
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Multiplication as Repeated Addition Worksheet Pack
Strengthen student understanding of multiplication and repeated addition with this worksheet pack designed for 3rd grade students.
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Which Homophone? Worksheets
Download this differentiated homophones worksheet to help your students become more familiar with this tricky vocabulary!
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My Safety Plan Worksheet
Create a safety plan to help understand what to do or who to go to when you feel unsafe.
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Adding Suffixes - Vocabulary Worksheet
Review concepts related to suffixes with a printable grammar worksheet.
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The Number Line Zoo - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Develop number sense by returning the zoo animals to their correct positions on the number line with a fun worksheet.
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Day and Night – Worksheet
Encourage your students to illustrate the day and night cycle with this free worksheet.
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Weather Tools – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Match weather tools with their corresponding picture and description with this cut and paste worksheet.
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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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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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Making 10 Number Bonds - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice the addition strategy of making 10.
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Color by Letter (c, k, e, h, r) - Dog
Use this free printable color by letter activity with students when practicing letter recognition for the letters c, k, e, h, and r.
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Reflection, Refraction, and Absorption Worksheet
Ensure students understand light energy by applying their knowledge to questions about reflection, refraction and absorption.
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Cause and Effect - Scenario Worksheet
A worksheet and answer sheet to use when teaching students the about the cause and effect text structure.
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Angle Sum of a Triangle – 6th Grade Math Worksheet
Calculate the missing angle in a variety of triangles with this one-page worksheet.
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Sorting Unit Fractions Cut and Paste
Sort different unit fraction visualizations with these cut-and-paste unit fraction worksheets.
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Spin and Spell - Months of the Year Worksheet
Spin and spell the months of the year with a printable spelling worksheet for 2nd Grade.
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Animal Adaptations for Kids - Worksheet Pack
Identify and label different animal features and discover how these adaptations help animals survive with a pack of printable lift-the-flap matching worksheets.