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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Vowel Teams Diphthong Worksheets
Practice diphthongs with this set of fun and engaging worksheets.
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Multiplication With Equal Groups – Color by Number Worksheet
Guide your students to determine a multiplication problem for an equal groups model with this color-by-number worksheet.
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Coordinating Conjunctions Worksheet
Distribute this coordinating conjunctions worksheet to help your students practice joining clauses with conjunctions to form compound sentences.
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Beginning Letters - Individual Alphabet Worksheets - BW
A beginning letter worksheet for each letter of the alphabet.
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Long Vowel Digraph Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Reinforce your students' knowledge of long vowel digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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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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Inferencing Comics
Use this set of comic strips when teaching your students how to infer information from everyday situations.
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Area Model Multiplication Worksheets
Guide your students to use the area model when solving multi-digit multiplication problems with this 20-page worksheet pack.
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Match the Arrays Worksheet Pack
Give your students practice matching arrays and multiplication facts with these math worksheets for 2nd and 3rd grade.
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Data Collection Worksheet Set
Use this set of differentiated graphs worksheets to assess your students’ understanding of how data is collected, organized and presented.
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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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Is It a Line of Symmetry? Worksheets
Assign this lines of symmetry worksheet to your students to check their understanding of the existence of a line of symmetry on various 2D shapes.
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Dot Day Multiplication and Division Color By Number
Integrate Dot Day concepts into your math lessons with printable Dot Day Multiplication and Division color-by-number worksheets.
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2nd Grade Odd and Even Numbers Worksheet
Introduce and explore odd and even numbers with this set of odd and even number worksheets.
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Measuring Angles in Images – 4th Grade Math Worksheets
Get your students using their protractors to measure acute, obtuse, right, straight and reflex angles with this set of differentiated angles worksheets.
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Color by Number - Division Facts Mixed (1–12)
An engaging activity to consolidate your students' understanding of division facts.
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Skip Counting by 2,3,4,5, & 10 Mystery Picture
Excerpt: Have your students uncover a mystery picture by solving skip counting problems to and multiply by 2,3,4,5 & 10.
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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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What Plants Need - Kindergarten Worksheet
Identify what plants need to survive with a group of free plant worksheets for kindergartners.
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Character Appearance, Traits and Feelings - Worksheet
Explore and describe a character's personality, feelings and appearance with this differentiated worksheet to be used with any text.
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Desert Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a desert food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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2D Shapes and 3D Objects – Worksheets
Focus on drawing 2D shapes and describing 3D objects with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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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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What is Cooperation? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the difference between cooperative and non-cooperative behavior with this cut and paste worksheet.
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2D Shapes Comparison Worksheet
A set of two 2D shape worksheets for students to record their observations whilst comparing properties of 2D shapes.
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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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Fractions of a Set – Differentiated Worksheets
Practice working with fractions of a set with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Equivalent Fractions – Mystery Picture Worksheet
Determine equivalent fractions while using the color guide to reveal a mystery image.
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Does the Sun Transfer Heat? – Science Experiment
Discover how the sun transfers thermal energy and which objects absorb more heat with this science experiment for kids.
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The Moon – Reading Passage and Response Sheet
Engage your students with a high-interest reading passage about the moon with this informative article and accompanying response sheet.
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Representing Unit Fraction & Whole Number Division – Instructional Slide Deck and Notes
Teach your students how to divide a whole number by a fraction and divide a fraction by a whole number with this instructional slide deck and accompanying student notes.
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OI and OY Words - Word Search
Explore words containing “oi” and “oy” with this set of differentiated word searches.