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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Physical and Chemical Changes Quiz
Assess your students' knowledge of physical and chemical changes in matter with a printable Physical and Chemical Change Quiz.
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3 Types of Rocks - Science Cloze Passage Worksheets
Use a cloze passage to increase your students’ understanding of the three rock types - sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous.
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Comparing and Ordering Integers Worksheet Set
Integrate this comparing and ordering integers worksheet set into your unit on positive and negative numbers.
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Understanding States of Matter - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Engage your students with an interactive activity where they cut and paste to match the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
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Heavy and Light Worksheet Pack
Practise knowledge of heavy and light with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Quotation Marks Punctuation Quiz
Test your students' skills on how to use quotation marks with a printable ‘Using Quotation Marks Quiz’.
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Earthquake - Tectonic Plates Diagram & Worksheets
Introduce students to plate tectonics with a labelled diagram and worksheet set featuring different types of volcanoes, layers of earth and landforms.
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Environmental Impact Science Experiments
Use these simple science experiments to teach your students about environmental issues such as oil and water pollution, soil quality and climate change.
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Contractions Spin and Write Worksheet
Spin and write contractions using this fun and engaging contraction worksheet.
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Animal Classification Table Activity Pack
Classify mammals, reptiles, birds, and other animal groups with a printable pack of animal classification table worksheets.
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Spelling Test Template Pack
Make those Friday spelling assessments easier with a pack of printable Spelling Test Templates!
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Compound Word Search and Find Worksheets
Search, find, and spell compound words with a pack of printable compound word worksheets for Year 2
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Spelling Compound Words Worksheets
See and spell compound words with a pack of printable compound word spelling worksheets.
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Free 5 Senses Worksheet
Identify the body parts used to sense things with a free 5 Senses Cut and Paste Worksheet.
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Animal Adaptations - Informative Writing Prompt Worksheets
Write to describe animals and their adaptations with a printable pack of informative writing worksheets.
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Busy Binder - Morning Work Pages for Kindergarten
Review daily calendar, maths, literacy, and fine motor skills with a printable morning work pages for kindergarten!
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Following Directions Worksheets - Reading a Clock Review
Practise telling time to the half-hour, quarter-hour, and five-minute mark with a pack of printable Following Directions to Tell the Time worksheets.
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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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Ways to Represent a Unit Fraction Worksheet
Help students show their knowledge of how to represent different unit fractions with this set of unit fractions worksheets.
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24-Hour Time Sort Worksheet
Match 12 and 24-hour time with a cut and paste time conversion worksheet.
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Time to 5 Minutes- Colour By Code Worksheet
Tell time to the nearest five minutes and have fun with a Telling Time Colour By Code Worksheet.
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Patterns in Place Value Worksheet
Use this place value worksheet to get your students analysing decimal place value in numbers.
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How Long Does It Take? – Seconds, Minutes & Hours Worksheets
Estimate the duration of time it takes to complete an action with a pair of Seconds, Minutes, or Hours? Cut and Sort Worksheets.
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Comparing and Ordering Decimals Worksheet
Get students comparing and ordering decimals to the thousandths place with this printable worksheet.
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Diphthong Colouring Activity Worksheets
Practise finding different vowel team diphthongs with this set of fun colour-by-code worksheets for your students.
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The Force of Friction Comprehension Worksheets
Download this friction worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about the force of friction and its impact on our daily lives.
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Drawing Arrays Worksheet Pack
Review how to draw an array with your students as they complete this worksheet pack.
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Women In World War One Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Read to learn about women in World War I with a printable reading passage and comprehension worksheet.
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Haunted House for Sale - Creative Writing Activity
Use persuasive language and description writing to sell a haunted house with this exciting Halloween Haunted House Project!
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Adverb Worksheet Pack
Assign your students this fun worksheet pack to reinforce their understanding of adverbs (you can even create an adverbs workbook!).
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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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The Importance of Soil – Comprehension Worksheets
Teach your students about the importance of soil to plants, animals and humans with this differentiated reading comprehension passage with accompanying questions.