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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A Poppy for Remembering - Year 5 Reading Comprehension
Discover the history of the red poppy and its relation to Remembrance Day with printable reading comprehension worksheets for year 5.
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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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Decodable Text Worksheets – Common Consonant Digraphs (Set 1)
A set of 10 decodable text worksheets for early readers.
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Sequencing Activity - Stop Polluting The Ocean (Persuasive Text)
A sequencing task using a persuasive text.
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Equivalent Fractions Chart – Differentiated Worksheets
Use a fraction wall to practise finding equivalent fractions and comparing fractions with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Free Telling Time to the Minute Worksheets
A worksheet for telling time to the minute and converting between analogue and digital times.
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Using Persuasive Devices Worksheet
Use this persuasive devices worksheet to help your students create persuasive device examples based on a specific topic.
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Research Skills Worksheets - Note Taking
A set of 6 worksheets to help students identify key facts, details and vocabulary when researching information.
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Glorious Grammar (Early Years) Volume 1 – Worksheet Book
A workbook packed with 50 grammar activities for younger years.
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Fact or Opinion - Sentence Sort Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to distinguish between fact or opinion.
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Number Patterns - Worksheet
A place value worksheet to use when completing number patterns.
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Exploring Poetry Workbook
A workbook to help students become more familiar with the genre of poetry.
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1–120 Number Charts With Missing Numbers
A set of 5 worksheets with missing numbers from 1–120.
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Fluency Reading Passage Pack- Year 1
Assess student fluency with a printable pack of reading fluency passages for Year 1.
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Elements of Poetry Workbook
Explore the wonders of poetry with this set of poems and accompanying worksheets designed specifically for children.
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Multiplication and Division Minute Maths Booklet
A maths mentals booklet with ten pages of multiplication and division questions.
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Reading and Interpreting Timetables Worksheets
Five pages of worksheets that allow students to work on reading and interpreting timetables.
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Year 5 Mental Maths Drills Workbook
Get the mental strategies flowing with this ten-page mental maths booklet covering the four operations.
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Facts and Opinions - Caterpillars
A fun activity for students to use when identifying facts and opinions about caterpillars.
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Split Strategy Addition Worksheet Pack
Practise using the split strategy with this worksheet set.
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Sequencing Activity - Roald Dahl (Informative Text)
A sequencing task using an informative text.
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12/24 Hour Time Conversions - Practice Sheets
Review how to convert between 12 and 24-hour times with a set of printable Year 5 Maths worksheets.
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Jump Strategy Addition Worksheet Pack
Practise using the jump strategy with this worksheet set.
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Finding the Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Thunderstorms)
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Label the Non-Fiction Text Features Worksheets
Have your students label text features in non-fiction texts with this set of three differentiation text features worksheets.
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Fact or Opinion - Turtle Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to distinguish between fact or opinion.
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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.
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All About Soldiers - Comprehension and Building Background Worksheets
Learn about soldiers and Remembrance Day with a group of six worksheets that build background and comprehension skills.
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Persuasive Texts Sequencing Activity
3 jumbled persuasive texts for students to sequence in the correct order.
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Multiplication as Repeated Addition Worksheet Pack
Strengthen student understanding of multiplication and repeated addition with this worksheet pack designed for year 2 and 3 students.
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Persuasive Device Examples – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Match the persuasive writing techniques with the correct examples using this simple cut-and-paste worksheet perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
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For and Against Worksheets
Explore 'for' and 'against' arguments for five different topics with this set of 'for' and 'against' sorting activities.