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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Days of the Week Playdough Mats
Use playdough mats to help your students identify, sequence and spell the days of the week.
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Fishing Odd or Even Numbers Worksheets
Go fishing for odd and even numbers with your students using this set of three worksheets.
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Rounding Whole Numbers Word Problem Worksheet
Explore understanding of place value to round whole numbers to a given place with this printable maths worksheet.
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Soccer-Themed Maths Problem Solving Worksheets
Practise multiplication, division and problem solving skills with a high-interest soccer-themed scenario activity.
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The Water Cycle – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science vocabulary skills with this water cycle worksheet.
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Digraph Handwriting - Worksheets
24 digraph worksheets that focus on handwriting and vocabulary activities.
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Creating a Graph Using Digital Technologies
A worksheet that supports students when collecting initial data and creating a digital graph.
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2D Shape Activity Sheets
A set of nine worksheets where students demonstrate their understanding of various 2D shapes.
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Fiction or Non-Fiction? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this fiction and non-fiction worksheet when teaching your students about the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts.
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Number Patterns - Worksheet
A place value worksheet to use when completing number patterns.
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Representing Tenths Worksheet
Have students demonstrate their understanding of tenths with this simple one-page worksheet.
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Converting Capacity Worksheet Set
Assign these converting capacity worksheet pages to give your students essential practice converting metric units of capacity.
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Editing Sentences – Year 5 Worksheets
Download these Year 5 editing worksheets to get your students identifying and fixing errors in sentences.
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Addition Within 100 Bar Model Worksheet
Explore using the bar model to add numbers within 100 with this simple worksheet for your Year 2 students.
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Camel Adaptations - Year Five Reading Comprehension
Learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations of a camel with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 5.
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Subordinating Conjunctions Worksheet
Use this worksheet to enable students to practise identifying and constructing sentences using subordinating conjunctions.
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Column Graphs Grade 5 Worksheet
Use this double-sided column graphs worksheet to check your students’ understanding of interpreting and drawing column graphs.
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Subtraction Strategies – Assessment
Assess your students’ knowledge of subtraction strategies with a subtraction assessment.
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Level 5 Decodable Readers - Worksheet Pack
A set of one-pager worksheet versions of the texts from our Level 5 decodable readers.
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Level 4 Decodable Readers - Worksheet Pack
A set of one-pager worksheet versions of the texts from our Level 4 decodable readers.
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Colour by Parts of Speech - Nouns, Verbs & Adjectives - Seal
Review parts of speech by colouring nouns, verbs and adjectives on the seal.
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Apostrophe of Possession Worksheet
A 2 page worksheet to help students consolidate their understanding of the apostrophe of possession.
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Valentine's Day - Make a Valentine Activity
A fun activity to use on Valentine's Day.
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Little Red Riding Hood – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Year 4 Fractions and Decimals Worksheets
Use these fractions and decimals worksheets in your Year 4 classroom for independent practice or as an assessment activity.
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Location and Transformation Worksheets - Year 4
4 location and transformation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Lunar New Year Activities Sheet for Kids
Celebrate Chinese New Year in the classroom with this engaging activity sheet packed with Lunar New Year activities.
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Alphabet Letter-Sound Assessment Pack
Assess your students abilities to write their names, identify letters, letter sounds, and initial/middle/ending sounds with a printable alphabet assessment pack.
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Ordering Numbers Worksheets — Dot Day Caterpillar
Share these ordering numbers worksheets with your students to help them master sequencing numbers.
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Measuring Length with Informal Units Worksheets
A worksheet to use when learning about measuring length using informal units.
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Apostrophes of Contraction Worksheets
Learn about the apostrophe of contractions with this set of worksheets.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Worksheets for Beginners
Download a pack of differentiated Elapsed Time worksheets to help your students learn to calculate elapsed time in hours, half hours, and minutes.