How to write a good maths worksheet
A worksheet is a short conversation between you and a pupil who is not in the room. It cannot answer questions, notice a frown or change tack, so every choice about order, wording and space has to do that work in advance. The rules below are the ones that make the biggest difference.
Start easy, finish hard
Open with two or three questions the pupil can almost certainly do. They confirm that the method is in place and give a first small success. Then raise the difficulty a little at a time. A sheet that starts hard teaches pupils to guess or stop. A sheet that stays easy teaches nothing new. In the editor the difficulty slider for each question lets you shape this climb; the default sheet already steps up by topic level.
Vary the form, not just the numbers
Ten questions that differ only in their numbers test whether a pupil can repeat a procedure. Mix in a missing-number question, a multiple choice with a plausible wrong answer, and one question that asks the pupil to explain or show working. Maths Library lets you set the format of each question separately for this reason.
Keep the numbers kind
Choose numbers that show the idea rather than hide it. If the lesson is adding fractions with different denominators, the pupil should spend their effort on finding a common denominator, not on long multiplication. Lower the difficulty for the arithmetic around the new idea and raise it only once the idea is secure.
Leave room to work
Cramped answer lines produce cramped thinking and untidy columns. Set the spacing to roomy for any question where working matters, and use squared or dotted paper where pupils need to line up digits or draw. A line for the answer at the end of working helps you mark quickly.
Count the marks and the minutes
Give each question a mark that matches its effort, and watch the total. The readout under the sheet shows the marks and an estimated time, so you can aim for twenty minutes rather than finding out in the lesson that it takes forty. Put the marks in square brackets at the right edge so the pupil sees what each question is worth.
Write short instructions
One sentence at the top is enough: what to do, whether a calculator is allowed, and where to show working. Anything longer will not be read. If you need to remind pupils of a method, put a worked example in a text block above the first question.
Check before you print
Read the whole sheet once as a pupil would. Look for a question that depends on the one before, a repeated type, or a number that makes an answer awkward. Then read the answer key and check two or three answers by hand. Generated questions are consistent, but your eye is the final test of whether a sheet suits your class.
Keep a record of changes
Every edit in the editor is saved as a revision, labelled A, B, C and so on. If you try a harder version and prefer the first, step back through the revision strip. You can also make a Version B, with the same topics and fresh numbers, for a retest or a neighbouring class.
Ready to try these ideas? Open the editor or browse worksheets by topic.