Worksheets for Teachers
Did someone say printable worksheets? From 2nd-grade math worksheets and 4th-grade reading comprehension worksheets to Common Core worksheets 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 elementary grade levels.
Explore printable activities, free worksheets, homework sheets and more — 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 individualized instruction was gaining traction, and educators recognized 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 individualized 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, practicing 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 markers 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 markers!
- Use digital worksheets. Allow students to fill out their worksheets on classroom tablets as a means to add an extra level of engagement.
- Focus on rigor. It's important to differentiate instruction, and the worksheets assigned to students should be appropriate to their needs — but they should not just be busy work. Ensure there's a challenge at hand to hold kids' attention!
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 — primary-aged students can work on their fine motor skills with our mini book, cut and paste worksheets, and more while their older elementary peers get pulled into the fun of vocabulary fun with word searches and crossword puzzle worksheets.
Printable puzzles engage students in the form of a brain game, and color by worksheets bring art elements into math 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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Classifying Triangles (By Angles) – 4th Grade Math Worksheets
Practice classifying and sorting triangles based on their internal angles with this set of 3 worksheets.
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Plant Adaptations - Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Read and learn about unusual plants and their adaptations with a pack of printable reading comprehension worksheets.
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2nd Grade 'I Spy' Odd and Even Number Worksheet
Practice determining odd and even numbers of objects with this fun scavenger hunt worksheet.
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Plant Life Cycle Passage and Graphic Organizer
Give your students an opportunity to and sequence the life cycle of a plant with a reading passage and worksheet.
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History of Flight Reading Comprehension Passage
Read and learn about innovations in aviation with a printable reading comprehension activity.
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Classroom Rules and Expectations – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Start your year off right by reviewing classroom rules with a cut-and-paste, writing and drawing activity.
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Color by Parts of Speech Worksheet – Chameleon
Practice identifying different parts of speech with this fun color-by-code worksheet.
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Who Is the Main Character? Worksheets
Practice identifying the main characters in nursery rhymes with this set of worksheets for young learners.
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Social Skills Lessons - Cooperation Worksheets
Teach your students how to show cooperation with a set of printable SEL worksheets.
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Swamp Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a swamp food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Desert Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a desert food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Ocean Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create an ocean food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Arctic Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create an Arctic food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Rainforest Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a rainforest food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Producer, Consumer, Decomposer - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the role of producers, consumers and decomposers within ecosystems with this comprehension task.
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100 More and Less Worksheets - Cut and Paste
Use an understanding of place value to determine a number 100 more or less than a number with a pair of cut-and-paste math worksheets.
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Pictograph Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this fun cut-and-paste worksheet to build student understanding of pictographs and encourage them to practice their fine motor skills.
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Inflectional Endings - Spelling with Suffixes Worksheets
Spell words with the inflectional endings -ed, -ing, -s, -es and -ies with a pack of printable practice worksheets covering inflected endings.
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Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots - Dictionary Hunt Worksheet
Investigate the meanings of prefixes, suffixes, and root words with a dictionary hunt worksheet.
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2D Shapes Comparison Worksheet
A set of two 2D shape worksheets for students to record their observations whilst comparing properties of 2D shapes.
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Identifying Fractions – Worksheet
Strengthen student understanding of fraction models, how to identify fractions on a number line, and determine a fraction of a set with this free worksheet.
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Equivalent Fractions – Worksheet Pack
Use fraction models, strip diagrams, and number lines to determine equivalent fractions with this worksheet pack.
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The World's Oceans - Comprehension Worksheet
Explore the world’s five oceans with this detailed comprehension passage and related questions.
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Where Do Natural Resources Come From? Differentiated Worksheet
Explore where natural resources are found with a pair of differentiated natural resource worksheets.
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The Moon – Reading Passage and Response Sheet
Engage your students with a high-interest reading passage about the moon with this informative article and accompanying response sheet.
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Fraction Flags Worksheet – Differentiated
Create fraction models with different flags by partitioning rectangles and coloring them according to the guide.
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Halves and Fourths – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Practice sorting objects partitioned into halves and fourths with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Types of Figurative Language - Worksheet
Practice identifying and creating examples of figurative language with this printable worksheet.
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One-Step Equations (Addition and Subtraction) – Worksheet
Explore pre-algebra concepts by adding and subtracting whole numbers, decimals, and fractions with this one-step equations worksheet.
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Ratio Tables – Worksheet
Determine missing values to show the relationship between quantities with this free ratio tables worksheet.
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CVC Word Chain Ladders - Worksheets
Build word chains with CVC words using this set of printable phonics worksheets.
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Spaceship Word Chains - Worksheets
Manipulate the individual phonemes in 3- and 4-letter words to create new ones with this set of word chain worksheets.