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.
- Plus Plan
Penguin Adaptations - Year 3 Reading Comprehension
Explore the fascinating world of penguins and their adaptations with our set of printable Year 3 Reading Comprehension worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Comparing and Naming Angles – Differentiated Worksheets
Assess your students’ understanding of angle types with the set of differentiated student worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Christmas Colouring - Simple Multiplication Colour by Number
Boost multiplication skills even at the end of a school year with this colour by number multiplication worksheet set.
- Plus Plan
Epic Editing Workbook – Year 2
Use these Year 2 editing worksheets to get your students practising and refining their proofreading skills.
- Plus Plan
Properties of Matter Reading Comprehension Pack (Year 3)
Read and discover the properties of matter with a set of Year 3 Reading Comprehension Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Giant Squid Reading Comprehension Worksheets - Year 5
Read and learn about the features and adaptations of the giant squid with reading comprehension worksheets for years 5 and 6.
- Plus Plan
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree - Year 1 Procedural Writing Activity
Practise sequencing and writing procedural texts with an interactive ‘How to Decorate a Christmas Tree’ slide deck and differentiated writing prompts for Year 1 students.
- Plus Plan
End of Year - Build a Board Game STEM Project
Make classroom games that review learned content with an end-of-year S.T.E.M. project.
- Plus Plan
Poetry Cloze Passage Worksheets
Use these poetry cloze worksheets to introduce your students to various types of poetry in a fun and engaging way.
- Plus Plan
Introduction to Unit Fractions Worksheet Pack
Introduce your students to unit fractions with this set of teacher-created worksheets.
- Free Plan
Free Desert Animal Adaptations Worksheets - Comprehension
Discover desert animal adaptations with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack for Grade 4.
- Plus Plan
Christmas Singular and Plural Noun Worksheets
Review plural noun rules and add some holiday fun to your English lessons with a set of printable plural and singular noun worksheets.
- Free Plan
Making Monsters Subtraction - Worksheet
Have some spooky subtraction fun with three differentiated Halloween subtraction worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Cartesian Plane Mystery Pictures
Practise graphing on the Cartesian plane with this set of differentiated mystery pictures.
- Plus Plan
Converting Units of Mass – Worksheet
Convert units of mass including those with decimal representation using this worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Volume with Unit Cubes – Worksheet
Use this worksheet to reinforce how to find the volume of a rectangular prism by counting the number of unit cubes.
- Free Plan
Identifying Procedural Language Worksheets
Help your students identify procedural language with this set of three worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Data Representation and Interpretation Worksheets - Year 1
Two data representation and interpretation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
- Free Plan
3D Object Properties - Worksheet
Use this 3D Objects Worksheet to assist your students when learning about the properties of 3D objects.
- Plus Plan
Measuring Angles – Year 5 Maths Worksheet
Practise measuring angles using a 180 degree protractor with this set of three worksheets.
- Free Plan
Identifying Descriptive Language Worksheets - Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs
A set of 5 worksheets to help your students identify descriptive language in narrative texts.
- Plus Plan
Fluency Reading Passage Pack- Year 1
Assess student fluency with a printable pack of reading fluency passages for Year 1.
- Plus Plan
Long Vowel Digraph Sort Cut-and-Paste
Reinforce your students' knowledge of long vowel digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Column Graphs Grade 5 Worksheet
Use this double-sided column graphs worksheet to check your students’ understanding of interpreting and drawing column graphs.
- Free Plan
Hansel and Gretel – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
- Plus Plan
Geometric Reasoning Worksheets - Year 3
2 geometric reasoning worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
- Plus Plan
Year 3 Using Units of Measurement Worksheets Bundle
Download year 3 worksheets for using units of measurement that are linked to the Australian Curriculum.
- Plus Plan
Glorious Grammar (Early Years) Volume 1 – Worksheet Book
A workbook packed with 50 grammar activities for younger years.
- Plus Plan
Jump Strategy: Subtraction on a Number LIne – Worksheets
Practice subtracting two-digit numbers with regrouping using a number line and the jump strategy with a pack of differentiated worksheets.
- Free Plan
Flip, Slide and Turn Worksheet
A worksheet to give students practice at flips, slides and turns.
- Plus Plan
Decimals and Percentages Assessment
Assess students' knowledge of various decimals and percentages concepts with this four-page worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Editing Sentences – Year 4 Worksheets
Download these Year 4 editing worksheets to get your students identifying and fixing errors in sentences.