Worksheets Teaching Resources
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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I Can Count to 5 Mini-Book
Count small objects up to 5 with this printable counting mini book.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice reading and writing 4-digit numbers with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Color by Number – Repeated Addition and Multiplication
Guide your students to connect repeated addition with multiplication by completing this color-by-code multiplication worksheet.
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Do-a-Dot Rainbow Worksheet
Build fine motor skills and color recognition with a printable rainbow dot art activity.
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What Do Plants Need? Worksheets
Cut, paste, and read about what plants need to survive with a pair of printable plant worksheets.
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Worksheets - Rounding Using a Vertical Number Line
Use a vertical number line to round whole numbers to the tens, hundreds, and thousands place with a pack of differentiated rounding worksheets.
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Estimating Decimal Sums and Differences – Worksheet
Refine rounding skills with an estimating decimal sums and differences worksheet.
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Goods and Services Worksheet
Determine examples of goods and services with an economics worksheet.
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The Pony Express - Comprehension Passage Worksheet
Teach your students how to write a constructed response paragraph and integrate grade level Social studies concepts with a free Pony Express worksheet and ten-question comprehension assessment.
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Library Scavenger Hunt for Upper Elementary Grades
Explore the school library with a scavenger hunt!
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Converting Units of Length – Worksheets
Demonstrate an understanding of decimal representations while converting metric units of length with printable conversion worksheets.
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Personal Identity Activity (My Identity Wheel)
Explore personal identity by completing this personal identity wheel.
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Lab Safety – Interactive and Printable Cloze Reading Activity
Demonstrate an understanding of lab safety rules and expectations by completing a cloze reading activity.
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Why Plant a Tree? Infographic Analysis Activity & Posters
Teach about Arbor Day or Earth Day with an infographic poster and a cloze note-taking worksheet about the importance of trees in our environment.
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Free Character Traits List
Teach your students to analyze characters more effectively by providing them with a list of character traits.
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13 Colonies Map Quiz
Locate and identify the 13 original colonies of the United States with a map labeling assessment.
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Identifying Community Helpers Worksheets
Engage kindergarten and first-grade students in identifying community helpers with a pair of worksheets.
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Finding Word Meaning In Context - Word Detective Worksheet
A teaching resource to help teach your students how to find word meaning in context.
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Doubles Plus One - Worksheet
Practice the doubles plus one addition strategy with this one-page worksheet.
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Paralympic Games Count and Color Worksheets
Count and tally Paralympic icons with our engaging I Spy Worksheets, perfect for enhancing your students' observation and counting skills.
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Sequence an Information Text – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these informational text examples to teach your students about sequencing facts in a logical order.
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Trace, Draw and Order Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of sentence cut-and-paste worksheets to help your students build simple sentences.
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Making Inferences With Pictures Worksheet
Guide your students to use pictures to make inferences with this reading worksheet.
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Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of five grammar worksheets to teach about the structures of simple, compound and complex sentences.
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My Safety Plan Worksheet
Create a safety plan to help understand what to do or who to go to when you feel unsafe.
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Subtraction Strategies – Worksheet
Assess your students’ knowledge of subtraction strategies with a subtraction assessment.
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Super Synonyms List
Boost your students’ vocabularies with a synonyms list to reference in their daily writing lessons.
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Amelia Earhart Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this passage, second grade writing prompt, and worksheet to help students write a constructed response paragraph about Amelia Earhart.
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Common and Proper Nouns Sort - Cut and Paste Worksheet
A sorting worksheet to practice identifying common and proper nouns.
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Common and Proper Nouns - Sorting Task
Practice differentiating between common and proper nouns with this sorting activity.
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Spin and Blend Onset and Rime Pack
Practice blending onset and rime words with this set of spin and blend worksheets.
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Primary, Secondary, Warm, and Cool Color Worksheets
Teach about primary, secondary, warm and cool colors with this worksheet pack.