15 Worksheets is a website with more than 25,000 free printable worksheets from across the curriculum. The name of the website comes from the 15 retired teachers who each created one or more worksheets for each topic they chose—and it grew from there.
Worksheets are categorized under Math, Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Preschool, Kindergarten, Holidays, and Skills. Each category has many subcategories (75 for history alone!), and each subcategory has 15 or more worksheets.
Each category has an overview and some details on its index page. Each worksheet includes a description of the worksheet's purpose and other explanatory information. Some subcategories (e.g., Ancient Greece) have lengthy information about the topic that might even be used as part of your lesson material. Answer keys are included whenever they are needed.
For instance, I selected "Abraham Lincoln" from the 75 options under Social Studies. The subcategory description and information take up three pages. The 17 worksheets include a one-page biography, discussions of “The Emancipation Proclamation” and the “Gettysburg Address,” two different quizzes, a timeline activity, multi-paragraph writing assignments based on quotations or a question, pages with several questions to be answered in one or two sentences each, graphic organizers to complete, an activity based on Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!,” and a sentence about Lincoln for young students to trace. Some worksheets are appropriate for the elementary grades, some for middle school, and some for high school.
The types of worksheets for each topic vary greatly. Most worksheets are a single page that might be a graphic organizer, a puzzle, a matching exercise, a series of questions, an article followed by questions, a cut-and-paste activity, and many other formats. Some two-page worksheets for a few history topics are articles followed by a page of questions. A few, like the “My Book Review” form, might be used many times.
Aside from those under the tabs for kindergarten and preschool, plus some for spelling, they are not identified for grade levels. Parents will need to figure out which ones suit their children.
The worksheets support learning but are generally not your primary teaching tools. In a few instances, there might be plenty of instructional information between the introductory material and the worksheets themselves to adequately cover a narrow history or science topic. But most will be used to reinforce learning or address a topic from a different direction.
I can envision using some of the social studies worksheets alongside a real-books (or living books) approach where children read on their own and/or listen to historical novels and biographies. Many worksheets provide a way to cement key information children glean from the reading or cause them to think more deeply as they complete a graphic organizer, write an essay, or answer questions. Likewise, those exploring science through real books and hands-on activities might find the worksheets an easy way to get feedback or assess a student’s grasp of a topic.
The worksheets for social studies and science can also be used with a traditional style curriculum but are likely to be more useful with a real-books or unit study approach.
Other worksheets, such as those under “Following Directions” under the Reading tab, help children learn to pay close attention to details. Worksheets like this can be used whenever the need arises.
Don’t miss the worksheets under the Skills tab. Just a few of its many subcategories are brain teasers, bullying, citing sources, critical thinking, conflict resolution, communication, fine motor skills, forgiveness, gratitude, healthy habits, kitchen safety, and reference tools.
Summary
Unlike some websites with free worksheets that provide some for free but want to sell subscriptions to a larger body of material, 15 Worksheets is entirely free. This is an amazing resource!
