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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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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Random Acts of Kindness - Holiday Edition
Inspire Random Acts of Kindness this holiday season with a printable Christmas Kindness Calendar.
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Making Inferences – Birthday Activity
Teach your students how to make inferences with this birthday invitation activity.
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Diphthongs Maze Worksheet
Excite your students to practice their knowledge of diphthongs with this fun clue-based maze diphthong worksheet.
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Electricity and Circuits Guided Notes
Use this set of guided notes when teaching your students about electricity and circuits.
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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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Letters A–Z Printable ABC Worksheets
Learn the letters of the alphabet and their sounds with printable ABC worksheets
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Angle Word Problems – 4th Grade Math Worksheet
Download these angles word problem worksheets so your students can practice calculating missing angles.
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Asking for Help Strategy Sheets
Help students work through a difficult situation and how to ask for help with these asking for help strategy sheets.
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Water Sources Cut and Paste Sorting Worksheet
Explore the different water sources using this cut and paste worksheet pack.
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Inherited and Acquired Plant Traits - Reading Passage
Read and learn about inherited and acquired traits in plants with a printable reading comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Inflectional Endings - Spelling with Suffixes Worksheets
Spell words with the inflectional endings -ed, -ing, -s, -es and -ies with a pack of printable practice worksheets covering inflected endings.
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Subtraction Using Picture Models Worksheet
Practice subtracting numbers to 12 using picture models with a printable subtraction worksheet.
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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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Advantages and Disadvantages of Renewable Energy Worksheet
Discover the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy sources with a cut-and-paste sorting worksheet.
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Metaphors Worksheet
Practice identifying and using metaphors with this differentiated metaphors worksheet.
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When Winter Comes - Poetry Analysis Worksheet
Printable poem for upper elementary students to practice analyzing poetry.
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Mixture or Solution? – Cut & Paste Worksheet
Categorize substances according to if they are a mixture or a solution with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Three Branches of Government Sort
Learn about the branches of the U.S. government, each branch's responsibilities and those that are involved in each branch using a sorting activity.
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Order Up! Numerical Expressions Worksheet
Solve problems by using order of operations to evaluate numerical expressions.
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Human Histories: World Explorers – Comprehension Worksheet
A free comprehension worksheet paired with an informational text about world explorers.
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Graphing Using Input-Output Tables – Differentiated Worksheets
Use data from input-output tables to graph points with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Greek and Latin Roots Practice Worksheet Bundle
Practice using vocabulary containing Greek roots and Latin roots with 24 weekly root word practice worksheets.
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Types of Sentences Review
A worksheet to review the four types of sentences.
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Pollinators – Comprehension Task
An article and comprehension task about pollinators.
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Three Little Pigs Area Worksheet
A worksheet to practice finding area using square units.
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Tracing and Drawing 2-D Shapes – Worksheet
A simple trace and draw worksheet for 2-D shapes.
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Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Worksheets
Use these fractions, decimals and percentages worksheets in your upper elementary classroom for independent practice or as an assessment activity.
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In My Classroom Concept Book
A printable concept book for children to discuss things around their classroom.
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Readers' Theater Script - That's Not My Pet
A readers’ theater script that can be used for reading fluency and expressive reading.
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Living or Nonliving? - Worksheet
A worksheet that explores living and nonliving things.
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Positive and Negative Numbers - Worksheet
A set of worksheets to use when learning about positive and negative numbers.