How do I make a really good worksheet?

Question

I teach English to elementary school students in Japan, and sometimes I need to schedule quieter classes that don't tax my voice so much. I want to make some worksheets on various themes, such as sports, or pets, or etc.

But, what I need to know is, what makes a worksheet really good? Are there any techniques I should know?

I would appreciate links to "how to make a good worksheet" kind of sites.

BTW, these are EFL worksheets -- most of the kids have extremely low levels, and I can't count on any class being able to actually read. So, pre-literate ideas would be extra-useful. Esp. if they could capture the interest of a 12-year-old.

Other ideas for teaching without using one's voice would also be useful.

(-: Packed a lot in there, didn't I? Sorry. Looking forward to your answers, though.

Answer 1

I teach 2nd grade in New York State, and I always try to keep my worksheets simple and organized.  Pictures that go along with the theme of the sheet are always a good idea, especially for those that are struggling to read! Also, make sure that the print is a reasonable size.  Try not to have too many different things going on on one sheet.  For example, I covered addition, then gave addition sheets.  Then I covered subtraction and only gave subtractions sheets.  I didn't mix the two until both types of problems had been mastered separately.  The same goes for grammar - we worked separately on each topic (nouns, adjectives, verbs, ect) until they were mastered before diagraming an entire sentence.  

I've gotten worksheets off of busyteacherscafe.com and several others that I found using google.