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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Suffix Stories - Morphology Passages
Practise reading, defining, and using words with suffixes with a pack of suffix-focused reading passage worksheets.
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Subtraction using Picture Models - Worksheet
Practise subtracting numbers to 12 using picture models with a printable subtraction worksheet.
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Part-Part-Whole Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
Reinforce your students' understanding of how a bar model is used to solve 1-digit addition and subtraction number facts using the part-part-whole strategy.
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Adding and Subtracting Integers - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the positive and negative number code with four adding and subtracting integers worksheets.
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Skip Counting by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 Posters and Worksheets
Practise and review skip counting by 2,3,4,5,and 10 with a pack of printable skip counting charts and worksheets.
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Map of the World - Labelling Activity
Discover and label the world's continents and oceans with this blank map of the world.
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Formation of Earth - Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Combine reading and science content with a reading comprehension worksheet that focuses on the formation of Earth.
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Spelling CCVC Words - Worksheets
Develop students’ ability to segment and blend the sounds in CCVC words with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Interpreting Figurative Language - Worksheets
Explore figurative language in poetry with this age-appropriate poem and accompanying vocabulary questions.
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Identifying Descriptive and Figurative Language Worksheets
Help your students identify descriptive and figurative language in narrative texts with this set of colour-coding worksheets.
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Numeracy Assessment Tool - Year 5
A set of 6 numeracy assessment tools suited to Year 5 students
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NAPLAN Reading Magazine – Year 3
5 reading texts with multiple choice questions for NAPLAN Reading Year 3.
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Number Lines – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Cut and paste to complete the number lines with differentiated number line worksheets.
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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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Creating a Bar Graph Worksheet
Interpret data and create a column graph display with this worksheet.
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Interpreting a Column Graph Worksheet
Interpret information from a column graph and answer questions with this worksheet.
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Producers, Consumers and Decomposers – Interactive and Printable Activity
Sort producers, consumers and decomposers, with this cut and paste science worksheet.
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Managing Anger Worksheet (Upper Primary)
Help older students identify and manage angry feelings with this self-reflection and action plan worksheet.
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My Body Warning Signs - Worksheet
Help students identify the body signs that indicate they are feeling unsafe with this cut and paste worksheet.
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Whole Numbers on a Number Line Worksheet
Practice finding the missing number on number lines.
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Positional Language Worksheet – The Kitchen
A kitchen-themed worksheet to use when teaching younger students about positional language.
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How to Make a Tessellation Artwork Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine procedure article about making a tessellation artwork.
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Fantastic Forces Comprehension Worksheet
Download this forces reading comprehension worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about push and pull forces.
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Listen, Comprehend and Colour Worksheets
A listening comprehension exercise and art activity rolled into one.
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The Waterfall – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a poem from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 2).
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The State of Matter Worksheet
A worksheet that helps students classify a substance's state of matter by observing changes to its properties.
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Making Connections - Worksheet
Allow your students to record their connections to a particular text with this Making Connections Worksheet.
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Phoneme Spotter Story – Long 'i' Sound
A decodable text featuring various graphemes that make the long 'i' sound.
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Tracing Lines - Fine Motor Activity
Tracing lines for students to develop their fine motor skills.
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Positional Language Worksheet – The Campground
A worksheet to use when teaching younger students about positional language.
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Olympics Word Search – Upper
Words related to the Olympics in a word search.
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Transport Then and Now - Worksheet
A set of 2 worksheets for students to identify how transport has changed over time.