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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Color by Number – Repeated Addition and Multiplication
Guide your students to connect repeated addition with multiplication by completing this color-by-code multiplication worksheet.
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My Feelings Volcano Worksheet
Prevent students from being overcome by strong emotions with this volcano-themed coping skills worksheet.
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Writing the Alphabet - Handwriting Worksheet
Practice penmanship by tracing and writing uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Rounding to the Nearest 100 Worksheet
Help your students find the correct bone for each dog by rounding to the nearest hundreds place with this math worksheet designed for 3rd and 4th-grade students.
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I Set My Boundaries Worksheets
Identify your personal space boundaries with this worksheet set.
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Main Idea and Details Worksheets
Practice finding the main idea and supporting detail with this pack of main idea worksheets.
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3D Shape Detective - Worksheet
Explore the properties of some common three-dimensional shapes with this printable worksheet.
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Lab Safety – Interactive and Printable Cloze Reading Activity
Demonstrate an understanding of lab safety rules and expectations by completing a cloze reading activity.
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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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Comprehension Worksheets - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Read and learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Mindfulness Journal - Daily Emotional Check-In Worksheet
Create a mindfulness journal by printing your students copies of reflective mindfulness worksheets.
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Estimating Decimal Sums and Differences – Worksheet
Refine rounding skills with an estimating decimal sums and differences worksheet.
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Finding Volume (Differentiated Worksheets)
Teach finding the volume of rectangular prisms and cubes with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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The French and Indian War - Passage and Graphic Organizer
Reveal another chapter in American History with a reading passage and graphic organizer worksheet on the French and Indian War.
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Grammar Grid Mystery Picture Worksheet-Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives
Follow the color-coded parts of speech guide to fill in the word grid and reveal a mystery image.
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Adding 2-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice 2-digit addition with regrouping with this drill and practice worksheet.
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Subtracting 2-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice 2-digit subtraction with regrouping with this drill and practice worksheet.
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Multiplication and Division Minute Math Booklet
Warm-up (or assess) with this 10-page booklet of multiplication and division drills.
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Parts of a Book Worksheets
Use these parts of a book worksheets for students to identify the various parts of a book.
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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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Inspirational Woman Profile: Yuna Kim – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension task to use when learning about Yuna Kim.
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Blank Algorithm Grid - Black and White
An activity for students to use when learning about algorithms (directions).
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Common and Proper Nouns - Sorting Task
Practice differentiating between common and proper nouns with this sorting activity.
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Missing Values Number Chart - 1–120
A black and white chart representing numbers 1-120.
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‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Explore how scientific study and collaboration allowed for understanding more about an animal species using our ‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets.
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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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Order of Operations Worksheet Pack
Practice evaluating expressions with exponents with this order of operations worksheet pack designed for 6th grade.
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‘Imagine if…’ Changing Setting Worksheet Set
Use this Imagine If… Changing Settings Worksheet Set to spark creativity and deepen comprehension as students explore how changing a story’s setting transforms the entire narrative.
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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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What’s Inside? Inference Activity
Use these images to help students practise making inferences from visual clues by analyzing the contents of a bin and a backpack to determine what they reveal about the owner.
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Objects in Space Graphic Organizer Pack
Research other features in the solar system besides the sun and the planets with an Objects in Space Graphic Organizer.
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How Does It Move? Toy Graphing Worksheets
Explore motion and mathematics with engaging Toy Graphing Worksheets.