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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Phases of the Moon – Comprehension Worksheet
Analyse different moon phases and how their visual appearances change over time with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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Grammar and Punctuation Assessment Tool - Year 5
A set of 5 grammar and punctuation assessment tools suited to Year 5 students.
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Rhyming Match – Worksheets
Identify rhyming words through images with this set of 5 worksheets.
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Multiplication and Division Speed Drill Worksheets – Facts of 8
A set of worksheets to help students develop fast and accurate recall of the eight times tables.
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Area and Perimeter Paddock Problems – Worksheets
A set of differentiated area and perimeter worksheets.
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Multiplication Wheel Worksheets
A set of multiplication worksheets to helps students improve their recall of the multiplication tables.
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Colour by 2D Shape (Basic and Complex Shapes)
A detailed set of colour by shape activities.
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Common and Proper Nouns Sort - Cut and Paste Worksheet
A sorting worksheet to practise identifying common and proper nouns.
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Biography Structure Sorting Worksheets
Teach biography structure with engaging sorting worksheets that help students understand the key sections of a biography using authentic text examples.
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Build an Animal Fact File – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these animal fact file cut-and-paste worksheets as a precursor to information report writing.
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Chance Worksheets - Year 3
2 chance worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Fractions and Decimals Assessment
Assess students' knowledge of various decimals and percentages concepts with this four-page worksheet.
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3D Object Properties - Worksheet
Use this 3D Objects Worksheet to assist your students when learning about the properties of 3D objects.
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Free Parts of the Face Worksheet
Use this parts of the face worksheet highlighting features of the face.
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Relative Pronouns Worksheet Pack
Use this relative pronouns worksheet pack to get your students identifying and using these essential parts of speech.
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States of Matter Maze Worksheets
Practise identifying examples of solids, liquids, and gases with a set of printable States of Matter Maze Worksheets.
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Ten Frame Printable — Monster Teeth
Delight your students with this ten frame printable activity. This resource reinforces number recognition by inviting them to add teeth to monster-themed ten frames.
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Comparing Mass With Balance Scales Worksheet
Practise comparing and contrasting the mass of objects as shown on balance scales with this set of mass measurement worksheets.
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Verb Tense Worksheet
Provide students with additional verb tense practice with a past, present, and future tense worksheet.
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The Olympic Games - Comprehension Task
Encourage students to apply a range of comprehension and writing skills when finding out interesting fun facts about the Olympics with a printable reading comprehension task.
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Paired Passage Worksheets - Thunderstorms
Use paired passages to help your student practise applying reading comprehension strategies.
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Finger Counting Cut and Paste
Count to ten using this finger counting cut and paste worksheet.
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Converting Time Worksheet - 12 to 24 Hour Time
Review how to convert 12-hour to 24 hour time with a printable converting time worksheet.
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Telling Time Year 2 Worksheets
Practise telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time Year 2 worksheets.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals Word Problems Worksheet
Practise solving word problems by adding and subtracting decimals to the thousandths place with this worksheet.
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Skip Counting and Multiplication Differentiated Worksheet
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise using skip counting to solve multiplication expressions.
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Estimation Worksheets (Addition and Subtraction)
Teach your students how to use their rounding skills to estimate sums and differences with these maths worksheets.
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Managing Big Emotions – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Empower students to identify and manage big emotions with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets for early years students.
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Adverbial Phrases Roll and Write Activity
Along with your students, roll and write your way to hilarious silly sentences with adverb phrases with this printable worksheet!
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Firefighter Colour By Number Worksheet - Hundreds Chart
Print the perfect maths activity to accompany your fire safety lessons with a printable firefighter colour-by-number worksheet
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Do-a-Dot Rainbow Worksheet
Build fine motor skills and colour recognition with a printable rainbow dot art activity.
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Dot Painting ABC Worksheets
Build fine motor skills and letter recognition with a fun set of Alphabet Do-a-Dot printables.