Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Where to Find Free Teaching Worksheets for the Classroom

worksheets Printing worksheets off the web can allow teachers to make more time to do what they do best: teach. Worksheets are also a great way to give students extra practice at home. Here are 10 websites that offer free teaching worksheets and worksheet generators.
Super Teacher Worksheets - Dedicated entirely to printables, Super Teacher Worksheets is a good place to find free worksheets for students of all ages. Covered subjects include math, reading, writing, spelling, phonics, science, and social studies.
abcteach - This site features 5,000+ free printables and worksheets as well as several custom worksheet generators. Teachers who become members of the site can also gain access to additional resources.
About Homeschooling - The About.com Guide to Homeschooling provides a wide range of printable worksheets and projects for home use. Worksheet categories include science, geography, history, math, language arts, health and nutrition, physical education, holidays, seasons, and animals.
SchoolExpress - With more than 16,000 free worksheets, SchoolExpress is an excellent place to find free printables online. Worksheets cover a wide range of subjects, including math, reading, writing, language arts, science, social studies, and geography.
Schoolhouse Technologies - Schoolhouse Technologies sells several products for a fee, but they also offer two no-cost worksheet generators for math and vocabulary. Both generators can be downloaded for free with no strings attached.
Dad's Worksheets - Operated by a dad with two daughters, this site provides thousands of free math worksheets on nearly every topic imaginable. Dad's Worksheets also offers free graph paper and handwriting paper.
Math Fact Cafe - Math Fact Cafe offers hundreds of free, pre-made mathematics worksheets for grades 1-4. The site also provides a free worksheet builder that creates printable worksheets and answer keys.
Discovery Education - Teachers can find a wide range of science worksheets on the Discovery Education website. Worksheet categories include anatomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, general science, physics, and astronomy.
Handwriting Worksheet Maker - This simple worksheet maker can be used to create customized handwriting practice worksheets for letters, names, words, and sentences. The maker works for print and cursive worksheets.
Armored Penguin - Armored Penguin is a no frills but popular site with several free generators for students and teachers. The generators can be used to create word searches, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, and math worksheets.
Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online degree reviews for OnlineDegreePrograms.
Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).
Original image: 'Worksheets from this week's Thursday folder at school'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31442459@N00/3390500351 by: Wesley Fryer

4 comments:

Carl Anderson said...

Worksheets? Really? And how do they help you teach? How do they help students learn? Explain again how worksheets can make you a better teacher. Help me understand please.

loonyhiker said...

@Carl Anderson I don't believe that worksheets take the place of good teaching or that it makes you a better teacher. It can provide practice for the student with new skills. All worksheets do not have to just be rote drills. They can be useful in project based learning to guide the student's observations. Worksheets are just another tool for teachers to use. I agree they can be overused and abused but they can be helpful too in the classroom.

Tim said...

@Carl Anderson -

I feel the need to defend worksheets here. I don't think worksheets take the place of good teaching, but they can play an important role in the learning process. I doubt you'll find many teachers who think that doing nothing but worksheets is an appropriate teaching strategy.

But do you REALLY think it's possible to teach without using ANY worksheets? I don't.

Example: Let's say you're teaching subtraction with regrouping. After a hands-on demonstration and detailed explanation - kids still need to practice and demonstrate the skill on their own. Kids will never learn subtraction with regrouping unless they try it themselves on paper.

In my opinion a teacher should assign SOME independent practice (aka worksheet) for new or difficult concepts. That's how kids learn - trying it for themselves. And SOMETIMES that has to be done with a paper and pencil.

Also - The word worksheets seems to have a negative connotation- when really it depends on your definition of what a worksheet is.

What about a cut-and-glue activity? That's a type of worksheet that kids often enjoy. How about a mini-book with sscience facts that kids assemble themselves. That's a worksheet too. How about a poem? Many of those are printed on worksheets. How about an educational board game that's printed from the computer? Those come in worksheet for too.

ALl of these things are found on the siteslisted in this blog entry. And they really do help kids learn.

Tim
owner/superteacherworksheets.com

loonyhiker said...

@Tim Thanks so much for your comments. I agree with you very much. I'm not a teacher who just dishes out worksheets and tells kids to go away. They can play an important part in enhancing a lesson and give students plenty of practice. I do not think they will ever go away.