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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Adding and Subtracting Integers on Number Lines - Worksheet
Help your students learn to add and subtract integers on a number line with a printable adding and subtracting integers worksheet.
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Material World Resource Pack
Learn about natural and manmade materials with a printable resource pack.
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Hop on Number Lines - Worksheet Pack
Hop your way to addition mastery with a pack of two addition on a number line worksheets.
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Mars vs. Earth - Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Learn about the planets with differentiated compare and contrast passages, activities and writing opportunities.
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Living or Non-living? Colour by Code Worksheet
Practice identifying living and non-living things with this colour-by-code worksheet.
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Word Study List - Double Consonants
Introduce and explore words containing double consonants with this extensive list.
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Producers, Consumers and Decomposers – Interactive and Printable Activity
Sort producers, consumers and decomposers, with this cut and paste science worksheet.
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My Body Warning Signs - Worksheet
Help students identify the body signs that indicate they are feeling unsafe with this cut and paste worksheet.
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Representing Money Amounts – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise representing money amounts in multiple ways.
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A Very Special Memory – Worksheet
Explore the role that photographs play in communicating the stories of our past with this simple worksheet.
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Imagine Conjunctions Worksheet
Spark students' creativity with this conjunctions worksheet containing four images to prompt students to write compound sentences.
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Nouns and Things - Worksheet
A worksheet to help students use more descriptive nouns in their writing.
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Spot the Stretchy Difference – Worksheet
A spot the difference worksheet designed to help students recognise materials that have been stretched.
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Is It a Fact or an Opinion? - Worksheet
A worksheet to practise identifying facts and opinions.
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Species Snapshot Worksheet - Honey Bees
A comprehension worksheet for a species snapshot magazine article about honey bees.
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Days of the Week – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Foundation magazine (Issue 3).
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Australia and Its Neighbours - Poster and Labelling Activity
A set of maps and worksheet for students to use when looking at Australia and its neighbours.
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The Story of Gulaga - Comprehension and Activity Worksheet
A comprehension and linked activity based on an Aboriginal Dreaming Story.
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Counting Syllables Worksheets
Five worksheets that allow students to consolidate their understanding of syllables.
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Prime and Composite Number Worksheet
A worksheet to consolidate your students' understanding of prime and composite numbers.
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3-Digit Place Value Scavenger Hunt Worksheet
A scavenger hunt worksheet to use in the classroom when exploring 3-digit place value.
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Money and Financial Mathematics Worksheets - Year 4
2 money and financial mathematics worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Patterns and Algebra Worksheets - Year 5
4 patterns and algebra worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Telling the Time Worksheets- Quarter Hours
Tell and write time to the nearest quarter-hour and half-hour with printable telling time cut and paste worksheets.
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Decimal Operations Worksheet
Get students applying the four operations to decimal numbers with this set of two maths worksheets.
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Recalling Facts - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Understanding Sequence - Jack and the Beanstalk
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to understand sequence when reading.
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Push or Pull? Worksheet
Use this push or pull worksheet when exploring forces and motion in your early years science lessons.
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Telling Time - Year 2 Maths Test
Administer a Telling Time Maths Test to determine mastery of year 2 clock reading skills.
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Frog in a Pond - Colour by Numbers
Colour by numbers is a fun and easy way to help students recognise digits.
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Detailed Character Profile Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when building a character for a story.
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Conversion of Measurements Worksheets — ‘Riddle Me!’
Laugh and learn with our conversion of measurements worksheets that give students practice converting metric units of length, capacity and mass.