Worksheets Teaching Resources
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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Plotting Decimals Number Line Worksheet
Practise identifying decimals on number lines with a decimal number line worksheet.
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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 collection with this free worksheet.
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Day and Night – Worksheet
Encourage your students to illustrate the day and night cycle with this free worksheet.
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Numeracy Assessment Tool for Year 3
A set of 6 numeracy assessment tools suited to Year 3 students.
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The Solar System – Cut and Paste Activity
Use this cut-and-paste activity to make a mini solar system book.
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Positional Language Worksheet – The Farmyard
A farmyard-themed worksheet to use when teaching younger students about positional language.
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Colour by Parts of Speech - Nouns, Verbs & Adjectives - Seal
Review parts of speech by colouring nouns, verbs and adjectives on the seal.
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Forces Assessment
Assess students' understanding of contact and non-contact forces with this forces assessment for Year 4 students.
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Multiplication and Division Speed Drill Worksheets – Facts of 7
A set of worksheets to help students develop fast and accurate recall of the seven times tables.
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Novel Study – Character Map Worksheet
Explore and analyse the characters in your class novel with this set of three worksheets.
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Read and Colour Worksheet – Common and Proper Nouns
A worksheet to practise identifying common and proper nouns.
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Explanation Text Writing Task – Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
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Convict Identification Cards - Template
A convict identification card template to use in the classroom when learning about the convicts of the First Fleet.
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Location and Transformation Worksheets - Year 4
4 location and transformation worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Compass Points Worksheet
A worksheet showing the 8 major compass points.
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Inference Real Estate Advertisements - Worksheet
A series of real estate advertisement worksheets to use when teaching your students how to infer information from written texts.
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Measurement Maze Worksheets - Kindergarten/Foundation
Teach your students to compare tall and short objects with a printable set of Kindergarten Maths Maze Worksheets.
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Verb Tenses Quiz Worksheet
Assess your students' knowledge of verb tenses with this 5-question quiz.
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Using Metric Units of Length Worksheets - Differentiated
Use differentiated metric measurement worksheets to practise identifying units, measuring, and converting metric units of length.
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Australian Conservationists: The Irwins – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the Irwin family and their conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Contractions Writing Activity Pack
Put contractions into sentences to demonstrate an understanding of contractions in context using these writing worksheets.
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Animals and Their Habitats - Cut and Paste Worksheets
Match the animals and their habitats with a pack of printable cut-and-paste 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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Comparing and Ordering Decimals Worksheet
Get students comparing and ordering decimals to the thousandths place with this printable worksheet.
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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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Long Vowel Digraph Writing Worksheet
Learn to encode long vowel digraphs with this set of writing worksheets.
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Subordinating Conjunctions Worksheet
Use this worksheet to enable students to practise identifying and constructing sentences using subordinating conjunctions.
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Directions with Right Angle Turns Worksheet
Teach your students to give and follow directions using right angles with this 2-page maths worksheet for Year 3 students.
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Do-a-Dot Rainbow Worksheet
Build fine motor skills and colour recognition with a printable rainbow dot art activity.
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Dot Day Art - Roll a Kandinsky Circle Art Project
Introduce your students to the circle art style of Wassily Kandinsky with a fun Roll-a-Kandinsky Dot Day Art Activity.
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Colour by Number - Mixed 1 - 12 Division
An engaging activity to consolidate your students' understanding of division facts.
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Classifying Triangles (By Angles) Worksheets
Practise classifying and sorting triangles based on their internal angles with this set of 3 worksheets.