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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Data Representation and Interpretation Worksheets - Year 4
4 data representation and interpretation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Fast Finisher Booklet - Middle Primary
54 pages of different activities for use in a Fast Finisher Booklet.
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Scripts for Readers Theatre – Year 3 and Year 4
Bring your literacy lessons to life with scripts for readers theatre that boost student confidence and improve reading fluency.
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Decodable Text Worksheets – Common Consonant Digraphs (Set 1)
A set of 10 decodable text worksheets for early readers.
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Decimal and Place Value Chart
Provide your students with our decimal and place value chart to make comparing and ordering decimals a breeze!
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Elapsed Time Riddle Worksheets
Calculate elapsed time to solve the riddles in this printable pack of elapsed time practice worksheets.
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Perimeter of Composite Shapes Worksheets
Use these perimeter of composite shapes worksheets in your maths lessons when teaching your students how to calculate more advanced perimeters.
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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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Snail Trail Odd and Even Properties Worksheet Pack
Help students identify the properties of odd and even numbers and using the ‘rules’ when calculating with this worksheet pack.
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Daily Maths Word Problems - Year 5
A set of 20 problem solving questions suited to year 5 students.
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Year 6 Mental Maths Drills Workbook
Incorporate this mental maths drills booklet into your maths lesson warm-up routine.
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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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Objects in Space Graphic Organiser Pack
Research other features in the solar system besides the sun and the planets with an Objects in Space Graphic Organiser.
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Persuasive Writing Examples and Analysis Worksheet
Use these persuasive writing examples to teach your students how purpose, structure and language features work together in strong persuasive texts.
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My Alphabet Book - Printable Alphabet Worksheets
Learn the letters of the alphabet and their sounds with printable ABC worksheets
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Factor Trees – Worksheet
Find the prime factors of numbers using factor trees with this worksheet.
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Analogue Time to the Quarter Hour
A worksheet to use when teaching analogue times in o'clock, half past and quarter past/to.
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Animal Fact File Template Pack
Use an Animal Fact File Template to introduce to your students to the informational researching and writing process.
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Emotive Language Cloze Passage Worksheet
Get students using emotive language examples in their persuasive writing with this differentiated cloze passage worksheet.
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Addition Fact Maths Drills & Progress Trackers
Assess and track addition fact fluency with a printable Number Fact Fluency pack.
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Year 6 Metric Conversions Practice Sheets - Length
Practise converting, comparing, and ordering metric measurements with a Year 6 Metric Conversions worksheet pack.
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Order of Operations Quiz - Year 6
Assess your students' ability to write and evaluate numerical expressions by using the order of operations with this Year 6 maths assessment.
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Telling Time Years 2 & 3 Worksheets
Practise telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time Year 2 & 3 worksheets.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practise reading and writing 4-digit numbers using expanded form with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Equivalent Fractions on a Number Line – Differentiated Worksheets
Practise placing equivalent fractions on a number line with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Colour by Factor – Worksheet
Solve missing factor equations and colour a picture according to a colour-by-number guide.
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Perimeter Worksheet
Use these perimeter worksheets in your maths lessons when teaching your students how to apply various formulae to calculate the perimeter of shapes.
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Spelling CVCC Words - Worksheets
Develop students’ ability to segment and blend the sounds in CVCC words with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Number Patterns Year 2 Worksheet Set
Download this number patterns year 2 worksheet set to give your students practice skip counting, recognising patterns and solving word problems.
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Comparing Narrative and Informational Text Worksheets
Use this set of comparing narrative and informational text worksheets to examine the purpose and features of these two common genres.
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Two-Digit Addition Using Partitioning – Poster and Worksheet
Teach your students how to use partitioning for two-digit addition with this ice cream-themed poster and worksheets.
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Converting Length Worksheets
Download our converting length worksheets to allow your students to demonstrate an understanding of decimal representations while converting units of metric length.