Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Homeschool Review Crew: Super Teacher Worksheets

 Super Teacher Worksheets

Our latest review product, an Individual Membership to Super Teacher Worksheets, makes it simple to supplement Reading, Writing, Grammar, Math, and Science activities with a variety of worksheets. I received unlimited 24/7 access to ALL printable resources available through the online subscription website for my entire family for a full year. A variety of worksheets are available including but not limited to games, scavenger hunts, crossword puzzles, word finds, reports, cootie catchers, certificates, flashcards, and so much more. A conglomeration of over 10,000 worksheet printables are included in this subscription. Most materials are suitable for elementary-aged children in kindergarten through 6th grade. With that being said, there are also resources for preschool and a few printables for children above the intended age range. The Individual Membership would not be considered a complete curriculum.
 Super Teacher Worksheets

Subject Categories
The website offers a wide variety of resources covering many different subjects.
  • Math
  • Reading and Writing
  • Phonics and Early Literacy
  • Handwriting
  • Grammar
  • Spelling Lists (1st Through 5th Grade)
  • Chapter Books
  • Science
  • Social Studies (History and Geography)
  • Holidays
  • Puzzle and Brain Teasers
  • Teacher Helpers
  • Pre-K and Kindergarten
  • Worksheet Generator
You can also find Spanish translated worksheets on the website. They are marked with the "lang" icon.

How We Used Super Teacher Worksheets
I used Super Teacher Worksheets with my daughter Alyssa (Age 9) who works at a 4th-6th grade level. The subscription was used as a supplement to her core curricula. I was on a mission to find worksheets and activities of interest that Alyssa could utilize in our homeschool to reinforce and review skills, fill in educational gaps, provide her with extra practice, or to challenge her thinking. An Internet connection is required. Adobe Reader will be needed to open, read, and save the PDF files. We spent the first day exploring the website and browsing the available worksheets on my old Mac computer using Chrome as our preferred browser.

Did you know that Super Teacher Worksheets provides the user with a My Filing Cabinet feature that allows you to save worksheets you created or ones from the website to quickly find later?

Monthly Reading Calendar
There are many Worksheet Generator Tools worth checking out. This is one of my MY favorite features! First, Alyssa clicked on Worksheet Generator Tools and scrolled down to Teaching Tools. Then, she clicked on and opened the Custom Calendar Generator. The Calendar feature was very easy to use. She chose the month and year for her calendar. Then, she decided whether or not to show the dates in the top-right corner. She had several other calendar features to play with such as whether or not to shade in the weekends, if she wanted full day or abbreviated day headings, and whether or not to show U.S. and Canada holidays on her calendar.

She chose full day headings, shaded in weekends, dates in top-right corner of box, and did not include the holidays on her September 2017 calendar. This calendar was strictly for tracking her reading schedule and progress for her independently read monthly chapter books. When adding text, the box was highlighted yellow. You had the option to save or view worksheets.    

Alyssa chose the chapter book she wanted to read in September which was Phantom Tollbooth. She decided to read the chapter book 3-4 times a week. She clicked on a dated square box in order to add text. She indicated which chapters she would read each day. She aimed to read 2-3 chapters a day. She also marked her Project Days and the date she needed to turn in her final project. I wanted to use this feature to teach her responsibility, accountability, and independent or self-learning. My daughter is growing more and more independent each year and I want her to learn how to use tools that can help organize her day. The assignments were marked off or highlighted as she completed the reading segments. You can see the first two custom calendars SHE created below. Click the picture to enlarge. The only issue we had with the calendar feature was that she could NOT edit the calendar for errors after finalizing and creating the worksheet. She saved the calendar in her Filing Cabinet. After viewing the printable PDF Calendar she noticed the spacing error in the Sept. 4th box, she clicked on the Edit button to make changes but it wouldn't allow it.  
Chapter Book Reading Schedule Printables

Chapter Book Units
Phantom Tollbooth also had coordinating reading comprehension and vocabulary worksheets on Super Teacher Worksheets that we printed for her to utilize throughout the month. She answered reading comprehension questions and defined vocabulary words for every chapter of the book. These worksheets helped gauge her level of understanding when reading Phantom Tollbooth. Her answers were written using complete sentences. She used the vocabulary worksheets to expand her vocabulary. Occasionally, I would print an Illustrate a SceneSummarize the Chapters, or Question Leader worksheet to work on specific comprehension skills. These supplemental worksheets were used several times a week in September.
Creating Discussion Questions

Reading Comprehension Passages 
Several Reading Comprehension passages were read during the review period. Some were based on topics we were studying in several subjects. I love it when I can integrate Reading with other subjects like Science. For example, since we are studying Botany this year I printed out Dave's Beans and the Venus Flytrap comprehension packet. This focuses on comparing two texts. She also completed the Dinosaur Graveyard 4th Grade fictional passage for fun.

We will soon work on the Ferdinand Magellan Reading Comprehension packet. Even though she is in 4th Grade, I allowed her to complete Reading Comprehension Passages from lower grade levels.

Super Teacher Worksheets also provided answer keys to the corresponding worksheets. The answer key text was printed in the color red. This made it easy for the parent or teacher to differentiate between the actual student worksheet and answer key. She is required to mark where she found answers or context clues that lead to answers in the passage. If you see a circled number 1 in the passage, then she is telling me that that particular sentence helped her answer the first question. Remember that not all answers will be factual and found in the passage - children may have to draw conclusions. Many of the Reading Comprehension Passages included vocabulary exercises.
Comparing Two Texts: Article and Poem
4th Grade

2nd Grade Passage
Vocabulary Missing Letters

Writing
My daughter and I chose several Writing Prompts. She loves cooking so she decided that she'd complete the A Meal For My Family prompt. The prompt is written at the top of the page with lines provided for the written response. She didn't have enough room to give step-by-step directions. I was impressed with her meal choices. Another writing prompt was titled, Home Sweet Home. She needed to respond to the prompt: What do you like best about your home? 

Grammar
Super Teacher Worksheets makes it easy for me print reinforcing worksheets so I can send work for my daughter to complete at her father's house. She reviewed subjects and predicates, adverbs, plural nouns, compound nouns, and proper nouns. The picture below shows two Subject & Predicate worksheets she completed. Her task was to add a complete subject or predicate to each sentence.

Science: Plants
Additionally, we printed out extra practice worksheets for particular subjects or topics we were currently studying. For example, we visited the Science section and scrolled down to the Plant category since she was studying Botany this year. We found several useful printables that reinforced concepts recently learned.

Posters, Flashcards, and Labeling Worksheets
We printed off the colorful Bean Seed and Flower Anatomy Posters in color. They were also available in black and white which helps save on ink cost. Alyssa studied the printables and hung them on the wall to review. Later in the week, she Labeled the Blank Worksheets to test her knowledge. These were counted as grades. I printed off Vocabulary Flashcards for the flower anatomy and bean seed parts so that she could play a matching or concentration game with me.

Bingo Game
I created a Custom Bingo Board Game using important words from Lesson 1 of her Science curriculum. Super Teacher Worksheets provided me with calling cards based on the words added to the left column. I called out definitions or facts about the calling card words. Alyssa covered the correct word with a piece of candy if she had it on her card. When she covered five in a row either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally she could eat the candy as a reward. She decided to play coverall so she could eat all the candy during movie night. This printable was a huge success!  This activity was one of the Worksheet Generator Tools found under the section titled, Flashcards and Games.

Word Scramble
I wanted my daughter to remember the many relevant Science words taught in her lessons. I created a Word Scramble using the words from Lessons 2 and 3 of her curriculum. I chose to add 38 words without a word bank. A word bank would be included if I chose ONLY 25 words. Alyssa used the teacher word list to identify the correct words. Thankfully, the order of the word list was randomly generated. We found the Word Scramble Generator under the Worksheet Generator Tools. It was listed as one of the activities you can create under the Puzzle Generators. They also have a Word Search, Crossword Puzzle, and Missing Letter Generator.

Word Mazes
The worksheet titled, A-Maze-ing Plants, was printed from the website in addition to the answer key. The objective was for Alyssa to find her way through the maze connecting letters that spelled out the names of plant species. This worksheet reinforced her carnivorous plants Science lesson. After she connected the letters, the unconnected letters were written in order on blank spaces found at the bottom of the page. The unused letters revealed a fact about what all these plants had in common. The maze revealed the following fact: All are carnivorous plants. While most trap and digest insects, big pitcher plants occasionally trap frogs or mice. She actually read the same fact in her textbook so the material matched perfectly. Alyssa said that these sheets are super fun and cool! She'll complete a second one titled A-Maze-ing Conifers on Friday, because she learned about cone-bearing plants.

Cipher Wheel - Decode the Facts
The Parts of a Flower Cipher Wheel was a neat hands-on activity sheet found on the website. After printing the cipher wheels on cardstock and assembling the tool, my daughter worked hard to crack the code. First, she spun the wheel matching the letters and numbers at the top of the fact card. Then, she wrote the correct letter on the blank spaces of the fact card to reveal the fact about the parts of a flower. This material was covered in Lesson 3 of Alyssa's Science curriculum. She has two more fact file cards to complete this week. The first fact stated that: Petals are the brightly colored parts of a flower that attract birds, bees and other animals. The animals pollinate the flowers. She'll learn more about pollination in the next couple weeks. The second flower fact explained that the pistil is the part of a flower where seeds develop and grow.  My daughter is hoping that I'll find MORE of these worksheets related to her studies on the website.

Spanish Vocabulary
My daughter also created Flashcards for her Lesson 5 Spanish vocabulary lessons. She loved that she didn't have to handwrite and create all of them. She would rather type the words into the system. She could make Flashcards by clicking on the Worksheet Generator Tools and then finding the section titled, Flashcards and Games. She typed in the English meanings followed by the Spanish words. I told her to always SAVE her worksheets. Then, she printed the Spanish Vocabulary Flashcards out on cardstock.    

Math
Math was definitely the largest worksheet section. It included numerous concepts and subtopics under the subject area. The worksheets from this section were used as a review. At the beginning of every school year, we review previously learned concepts and skills. I picked several multiplication and division worksheets for Alyssa to complete while visiting her father on Friday school days. I thought we would use more of the Math worksheets, but many of them were too easy.

She really enjoyed completing the Secret Code Math and the Solve the Riddle worksheets. The riddle to be solved for A Cat's Breakfast was What do cats eat for breakfast? Alyssa's task was to divide in order to find the quotient for each problem. Then, she solved the riddle by matching the quotient's letter to the blank lines at the bottom of the page with solutions. The riddle solution was Mice Crispies.

The Secret Code Math worksheet consisted of 6 division problems each having 2-digit quotients without a remainder. First, Alyssa needed to decode the numbers so that she could write out the problem numerically. Then, she solved it. This creative teaching approach helped her pay closer attention to details. She checked her work using multiplication on the back of the page.  
 Super Teacher Worksheets

Penelope Peabody and Number Detective
The next two printables can be found under Puzzles and Brain Teasers. We focused on one state and mystery number each week. You can easily use the Number Detective daily cards to give a clue each day. I chose to print out the one-page poster printables.

I hung the Penelope Peabody Lost in the United States and Number Detective posters on the living room wall for her to see first thing in the morning. Alyssa would verbally respond to the question using the clues provided. I started with the 2nd Grade Number Detective clues and we'll work our way up slowly. The problems increase in difficulty. She thought that this was a fun activity to add to the day and asked if we could continue using them this year. Do you know which state Penelope got lost in? Do you know the mystery number?

Quiz Generators
The website also has generators that allow the user to create quizzes. Quiz Generators are found under the Worksheet Generator Tools. They offer several different types of Quiz Generators such as Multiple Choice, Matching, Fill-in-the-Blanks, and Short Answer/Essay Test. Alyssa created a Multiple Choice quiz about the Phantom Tollbooth chapter book as her final project for her independent Reading study. She used the Multiple Choice Quiz Generator to type in the questions. She also provided three answer choices for each question. She could even create an answer key! She is excited about creating future quizzes to test my knowledge about different topics. This is also a great way for students to exhibit their level of understanding about a book or topic. She said that the generator was easy to use.

Other Resources
At the beginning of the school year, I asked Alyssa to create an All About Me Poster. She found a wonderful template on Super Teacher Worksheets. I love learning more about my daughter and how she's changed over the year.. My daughter also wrote an excellent story using one of Super Teacher Worksheets Writing Story Prompts. I created a personalized Writing Certificate to give to her for writing creatively. We have plans for Alyssa to create a Classroom Newsletter at the end of the month for her father. The classroom newsletter will focus on what she's learned and accomplished during a week. The Custom Classroom Newsletter can be found under Teaching Tools. It is one of the Worksheet Generator Tools. They also have several helpful Math Operations Generators.
We reviewed several Historical fiction books this month for another company. The books were based on places around the world. I skimmed through the Super Teacher Worksheets and printed several corresponding maps so that my daughter could identify and color in the country on the map. For example, after learning about the Ancient Mali Empire she identified Mali on the Continent of Africa Map. She also utilized the map worksheets in conjunction with her Geography curriculum. She identified and colored in Ancient Greece as seen on the Continent of Europe Map after studying about it and discussing then and now maps.

Possible Vendor Suggestions 
  • Add More Chapter Books Units and Resources
  • Ability to Make Calendar Edits to Correct Mistakes
  • Tech Tips for Printing Issues
  • Include More Cipher Wheels - Decode the Fact Worksheets (All Subjects)
  • Create a Custom Handwriting Generator for Cursive Copywork
  • Bingo Boards - The 4x4 and 5x5 Board BOTH Required a Minimum of 25 Words; Create a 3x3 Bingo Board Allowing a Minimum of 9 Words and a 4x4 Board Requiring at least 16 Words
  • Hoping for More Explorer and African American History
  • Ability to Further Categorize the Files under My Filing Cabinet Feature 
  • Separate Spanish Themed Section Available
Recommendations
I HIGHLY recommend Super Teacher Worksheets to all home educators, parents, classroom teachers, tutors, and after school care workers. The website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. My daughter and I both check this website daily for helpful worksheets to use in conjunction with our studies. It is an excellent supplement to any curriculum.  

Overall Thoughts
We love our Super Teacher Worksheets subscription! These are not all traditional worksheets. Many of the "out of the box" worksheets captured Alyssa's attention and interests. I am constantly finding new ways to utilize the resources. The more I explore the more I discover. My daughter said that if we had to purchase an annual subscription every year that it would be worth the money paid and I agree. It has been a very valuable resource. The worksheets you see in this review are only a FEW of what we've used this year. I can't wait to use the Timeline Template to record her favorite homeschool activities each week, Classroom Newsletter, and the Graphic Organizers. As you can tell from this review, I am a HUGE fan of the Worksheet Generator Tools and Teaching Tools so I will continue to utilize those features.        

We did have a few printing issues. We had to adjust and resize the percentage from 100% to 85% for all paper edges to be seen. It still had an minor impact on the worksheet's appearance and centering when printing flashcards, bingo boards, calendars, etc.

Price
Super Teacher Worksheets has an affordable price tag of $19.95 per year. This gives one educator access to ALL materials. When you look at the abundant number of resources available at your fingertips to supplement all of your lessons, you can see the value in a subscription.  

Social Media
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Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews about Super Teacher Worksheets written by other crew members on the review team. You can also read my Super Teacher Worksheets review from two years ago by clicking on the link. This will enable you to see many other worksheet printables available.
Super Teacher Worksheets
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