Designing Effective
Worksheets
Objectives:
• Define what an activity /worksheet is and its advantages.
• Appreciate the usefulness of worksheets to learner’s achievement.
• Design an appropriate activity/worksheet based on the MELC with
consideration on the learner, the teacher and the learning
environment.
What is an activity/worksheet?
• An activity sheet is commonly a piece of paper
with questions or activities. Students can either
place their answers or perform the specific activity.
In addition to that, the activity sheet is also used
to record the activities done by a person, a group
of people, a family, or an organization.
Worksheet and Achievement
• Worksheets can be useful in many ways in terms of academic
achievement. For example, as supplements to textbooks,
worksheets can be used to add information for particular
classes. In addition, blanks in worksheets are invitations for
students to fill in gaps; they are opportunities for knowledge
construction. Well-designed questions in worksheets can draw
students’ interest when paired with proper teaching methods.
Furthermore, worksheets play a variety of functions in different
contexts
• McDowell and Waddling (1985) suggested that
during laboratory investigations, properly
designed worksheets can help teachers
overcome the problems of time demanding and
enable teachers to enhance students’ acquisition
of knowledge and skills
• Kisiel (2003) pointed that in activities while
visiting museums, worksheets can function as
advance organizers, helping students to
organize their observations and knowledge in
a confusing learning environment
• Krombab and Harms (2008) concluded that
worksheets are effective in helping students aged
11–15 to acquire knowledge such as biodiversity in
a natural history museum because they can
structure the visit, keep students’ attention on
certain objects, and form a basis for follow-up
coursework
• As an assessment tool, worksheets can be used
by teachers to understand students’ previous
knowledge, outcome of learning, and the
process of learning; at the same time, they can
be used to enable students to monitor the
progress of their own learning.
I. Planning
• What is the purpose of the worksheet?
• Who is the audience?
• What sources of information are available?
II. Preparing the worksheet
• The layout and visual quality of a page is very important.
A good starting point is to look at examples of
worksheets produced by others and think about the
design elements which make them work or fail.
• The general layout.
• Break the text into "bite-sized chunks" which are
easier to read while walking about. Use illustrations to
separate text blocks. Indenting and framing help to
draw pupils' attention so they are more likely to read
the information.
• The choice of print.
• A clear type is essential but style and size can be
varied to create interest and guide the reader
through the text. Bold type is useful to highlight key
words. Use a “house style” for all your worksheets
• The use of headings.
• Headlines tell stories fast! They can
summarise the main point of a piece of text
and help pupils' understanding as they go
on to read more.
• Amount of information on a page.
• Limit the amount of work on one worksheet.
The pupils should all be able to finish - if it's
too daunting they will give up.
• Tasks.
• Use a variety of tasks and begin with easier
ones, as success motivates. Make the tasks
as enjoyable as possible.
• Quality of illustrations.
• Good clear line drawings are essential.
Photographs are useful, but what will they
look like when photocopied?
• Quality of reproduction.
• If your worksheet is good, but the reproduction is
poor, then the final overall effect is poor. Store the
master copy in a plastic wallet in a safe place and
use the original only to make any future
reproductions.
III. Making Content Accessible
• Limiting the complexity:
• Using short sentences and simple words makes
text easier to understand.
Limit the number of technical words, and explain
their meaning in simple language or provide a
task which will do this. Avoid where possible
abstract images.
• Style of language:
• Try not to be too formal or official and therefore
dull. Use a style which creates a sense of
mystery and discovery about your subject and
which invites pupils to notice things and explore.
What methods of recording will be used?
• writing a piece of text
• completing sentences or filling in gaps
• recording in tables/charts
• ticking
• underlining
• circling words or pictures
• matching activities e.g. words
and pictures
• labelling drawings
• making drawings
IV. Evaluation
• It is unlikely that your worksheet will be perfect
after your first attempt. Remember to find out what
the audience using it thinks and then modify the
sheet if required.
Evaluation
It is unlikely that your worksheet will be perfect after your
first attempt. Remember to find out what the audience
using it thinks and then modify the sheet if required.
Graphic Organizers for Writing
• 1. Persuasion map
• The persuasion map is an interactive graphic
organizer that helps students familiarize
themselves with the process of persuasive writing.
It assists them with outlining and preparing
arguments for their essays, speeches, debates, etc.
2. Sequence Chart
A sequence graphic organizer is a tool that helps visualize the order of steps of a
process or a timeline of events, etc. It can also be used for note-taking, lesson planning,
and essay writing.
Graphic Organizers for Reading
• 3. Story map
A story map can be used to identify the
different elements such as characters,
character plots, themes, techniques, etc. in a
book students are reading. It’s a useful tool
that teachers can integrate into the lesson
to improve students’ comprehension.
• 4. Biography graphic organizer
• This is a tool that assists with understanding
a character from a novel, autobiography or
movie or a historical figure more in-depth. It
brings attention to various important factors
about a person’s life
• 5. KWL chart
• KWL chart is used for gathering information
from student’s prior knowledge or experience.
This 3 column chart captures the before (what
the reader already knows), during (what the
reader wants to learn) and after (what the reader
learned) stages of reading
Graphic Organizers for Teaching
•6. Learning map
•Learning maps visually depict the key takeaways
– skills, ideas, knowledge – students should get
from a lesson. It usually provides a high-level view
of the lesson/ unit/ course that is to be studied
and the connection between its different
components. Students can also use learning
maps in the classroom for note-taking.
• 7. Analogy graphic organizer
• The analogy graphic organizer uses analogy
to help students identify similarities and
differences between a new topic and a topic
that they are already familiar with
• 8. Vocabulary graphic organizer
• This tool can be used to assess the vocabulary
knowledge of students. You can create graphic
organizers including various elements to help
students learn new words, and learn antonyms
and synonyms.
• 9. Problem-solving organizer
• Problem-solving graphic organizers can be
used to improve the problem-solving skills
of the students. It helps students identify
and evaluate solutions to problems.
Graphic Organizers for Learning
• 10. Timeline graphic organizer
• Timeline diagrams are a type of graphic
organizer that shows a sequence of events in
chronological order.
• 11. T chart
• T charts allow students to study two facets
of a topic. For example, disadvantages and
advantages, pros and cons, differences and
similarities, etc.
• 12. Hierarchy chart
• Hierarchy charts visualize the elements of a
system, organization or concept from its
highest position to the lowest. Students can
use this tool to understand the superordinate
and subordinate categories of a topic and the
relationship between them
• 13. Star diagram
• Star diagrams are used to organize the
characteristics of a chosen topic. It can also
be used to brainstorm around new topics.
Brainstorming
Graphic Organizers for Brainstorming
• 14. Cluster diagram
• Cluster diagrams can be used to facilitate
a brainstorming session or structure idea
generation and even to help with exploring
new topics.
• 15. Lotus diagram
• Lotus diagram is an analytical tool that can
be used to breakdown broader and more
complex topics into smaller components
for easy understanding. It can be used for
brainstorming and studying new topics.
• 16. Cause and effect graphic organizer
• This type of graphic organizer shows the
causes and effects of an event. The cause is
the reason why something has happened, and
effect is the result of what has happened.
Visualization helps clearly understand the
different cause and effect relationships.
• 17. Mind map
• A mind map is a tool that helps capture the free
flow of thought and is widely used for
brainstorming around topics. Additionally, it can
also be used to organize and group information
about a topic.
Graphic Organizers for Compare and Contrast
• 18. Double bubble map
• The double bubble map is one of the
popular thinking maps. It is much like a
Venn diagram and is used to identify
similar and different qualities between two
things.
• 19. Venn diagram
• Another graphic organizer that helps you
visually represent a comparison of differences
and similarities between two subjects, is the
Venn diagram. What makes it different from
the double bubble map is that it can include
more than two topics and one common area
• Sample Template for a activity/worksheet
• ASIGNATURA (Uppercase and Bold)
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•Pangalan: _____________________________ Lebel: __________________
•Seksiyon: _____________________________ Petsa: __________________
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• GAWAING PAGKATUTO
• Pamagat
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•Kasanayang Pagkatuto at Koda
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•Panuto
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• Inihanda ni:
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• _____________________________________
• Pangalan ng May Akda
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•NOTE: Practice Personal Hygiene Protocols at all times. Please include this in All Learning Activity Sheets.
• FILIPINO 2
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•Pangalan: _____________________________ Lebel: __________________
•Seksiyon: _____________________________ Petsa: __________________
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MAGAGALANG NA PANANALITA
• Pamagat
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•Kasanayang Pagkatuto at Koda
• Paggamit ng mga magagalang na pananalita
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•Panuto
• Bilugan ang mga salitang nagpapakita ng paggalang.
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• po ewan salamat ayoko
• bahala opo wala oo
Let us not become weary in doing
good, for in the right time we will reap
the harvest if we will not give up.
Galatians 6:9