Worksheets for Teachers
Did someone say printable worksheets? From year 1 maths worksheets to reading comprehension worksheets to printables 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 primary year levels.
Explore printable activities, free worksheets, homework sheets and more — all aligned to the Australian curriculum and 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 individualised instruction was gaining traction, and educators recognised 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 individualised 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, practising 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 pens 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 pens!
- Use digital worksheets. Allow students to fill out their worksheets on classroom tablets as a means to add an extra level of engagement.
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 — early years students can work on their fine motor skills with our mini books, cut-and-paste worksheets and more while their upper years peers get pulled into the fun of vocabulary fun with word searches and crossword puzzle worksheets. Printable puzzles that engage students in the form of a brain game and colour by worksheets that bring art elements into maths 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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Reading a Calendar – Worksheets
Practise locating information on a calendar with a printable Calendar Worksheet.
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I Wish My Teacher Knew Activity Sheet
Add an ‘I Wish My Teacher Knew’ activity to your first-day plans to learn more about your new students.
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Recess Rules: True Friends – Worksheet
Learn about being a good friend while also brushing up on those reading comprehension skills with this comic strip activity.
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Map of the World - Labelling Activity
Discover and label the world's continents and oceans with this blank map of the world.
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Level 1 Decodable Readers - Worksheet Pack
A set of one-pager worksheet versions of the texts from our Level 1 decodable readers.
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Identifying Dependent Clauses Worksheet
Practise identifying dependent clauses in complex sentences with a dependent clause worksheet.
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Epic Editing Workbook – Year 2
Use these Year 2 editing worksheets to get your students practising and refining their proofreading skills.
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Alphabet Handwriting Sheets - Including Non-Examples
Handwriting sheets with opportunities for students to trace, identify and write the letters of the alphabet.
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Hansel and Gretel – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Alphabet Handwriting Sheet - 1 Page
Handwriting sheets with the alphabet and some words for students to trace.
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Fact or Opinion Worksheet Pack
Boost critical thinking skills with this fact or opinion worksheet pack featuring five engaging worksheets where students colour-code fact and opinion sentences.
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Reading Making Predictions Worksheet Pack
Practise reading and making predictions with this making predictions worksheet pack.
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Elkonin Boxes - Word Shapes Worksheets - Year 1
Build early phonics skills with our printable Phonics-Based Elkonin Boxes Word Shapes Worksheets.
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Blend and Colour Phoneme Blending Worksheets
Get your students blending simple CVC words with this set of blend and colour worksheets.
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Counting 1-10 Count and Colour Worksheet Pack
Practise counting to 10 with this set of worksheets ready to go!
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Characteristics of Living Things - Science Worksheets
Identify the characteristics of living things and animal classes with a pack of printable Animal Class Characteristic Worksheets.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations - Vocabulary Worksheets
Review key vocabulary associated with plant and animal adaptations with a pair of vocabulary worksheets.
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Features of Maps - Worksheet
Apply knowledge of the components of a map to this map elements worksheet.
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The Solar System – Cut and Paste Activity
Use this cut-and-paste activity to make a mini solar system book.
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Addition Worm – Worksheet
Build your students' addition skills with this fun set of differentiated worksheets.
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How Many Bears? Graphing – Worksheet
A hands-on picture graph worksheet for students to sort and count coloured bears.
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Eureka Stockade Fact Sheet and Comprehension Questions
A fact sheet and comprehension task to use when learning about The Eureka Stockade.
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Place Value STEM Challenge - Number Forms
Show numbers in picture, word, and expanded forms with an engaging Place Value S.T.E.M. Activity!
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Our Solar System Cloze Worksheet
Our Solar System cloze worksheet for your students to complete.
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Measuring, Estimating, & Comparing Length Worksheets - Year 2
Use this printable set of Year 2 length worksheets to introduce your students to the concepts of measuring, comparing, and estimating length in informal units.
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Measuring Length Drawing Challenge Worksheeets
Make learning to use a centimetre ruler fun with an engaging set of Measurement Drawing Challenge Worksheets.
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Decimal Place Value – Digital and Printable Worksheet
Get students analysing decimal place value positions with this “This or That?” worksheet.
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Persuasive Device Definitions – Match-Up Worksheet
Have students match the persuasive devices with their definitions using this simple one-page worksheet.
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Long Vowel Digraph Sort Cut-and-Paste
Reinforce your students' knowledge of long vowel digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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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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Finding the Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Thunderstorms)
Teach your students how to identify the main idea of a piece of text with this worksheet pack.
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Positive & Negative Number Line - Worksheet
Practise locating integers on a positive and negative number line with a printable integer worksheet.