English Language Arts Teaching Resources
Explore English Language Arts (ELA) activities, worksheets, games and more teaching resources created by teachers for teachers just like you! You'll find ELA resources aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and ELAR resources that align to TEKS.
This collection of teacher-created resources for elementary and middle school teachers was designed with students and teachers in mind, including differentiated activities and worksheets ready to print and add to your lesson plan.
Each game, activity and more have undergone a careful review by a member of our ELA teaching team to ensure it's classroom — and student — ready.
What Is ELA in Education?
In most educational instances, ELA stands for English Language Arts, the subject that encompasses reading, writing, speaking, listening and language skills development in American schools.
ELA curriculum standards vary from state to state and even school district to school district, but they typically include instruction in the following areas:
1. Reading
In ELA classes, students learn to read, understand and interpret a variety of texts, including fiction and non-fiction. They develop reading comprehension skills such as identifying main ideas and making inferences while building their understanding of vocabulary.
2. Writing
As they progress through elementary and middle school, students learn the skills they need for effective written communication by learning to create types of texts — such as narratives and persuasive essays, research papers, and descriptive pieces.
They also learn to organize their ideas, use proper grammar and punctuation and refine their writing through revision and editing.
3. Speaking and Listening
While English instruction in the US was once heavily focused on grammar and reading comprehension, education experts saw a call to move toward a more student-centered means of teaching that paved the way to today's ELA curriculum ... and to the inclusion of oral communication as a focus in the curriculum.
Through speaking and listening activities, kids learn to express themselves clearly, listen actively, ask questions, participate in discussions and deliver presentations. They also learn to articulate their thoughts and understand different perspectives while developing their critical thinking abilities.
4. Language
Finally, students study grammar, vocabulary and syntax to enhance their understanding of English and how it should be used.
The curriculum includes proper sentence structure, word choice, spelling and punctuation rules. Language instruction also includes figurative language, idioms and understanding context.
ELA as English Language Acquisition
You may have noticed that we said ELA stands for English Language Arts in most educational instances. So, what else can it stand for?
In some schools, ELA is the abbreviation used for English Language Acquisition, and it's the name given to programs created to help English language learners as they tackle the language.
This form of ELA has marked similarities with the ELA described above, as it focuses on helping students build oral, reading and writing skills. However, there are distinct differences as one focuses on educating native speakers and the other on ELL students.
English vs. Language Arts — Why Is English Called Language Arts?
Some of your students may have parents who remember attending English classes as children but are unfamiliar with the concept of English language arts.
How do you explain the difference to them?
The fact is, some districts may well use the term English for what another district terms "English language arts." In other places, the two refer to very different concepts. In many areas, English is the name for courses taught on a high school level, while English language arts applies to elementary level work.
To explain why their children are enrolled in language arts coursework, it may be helpful to break down the various components of language arts — as we have done above — and their role in students' literacy growth.
What Is ELAR?
ELAR stands for English Language Arts and Reading. While much of the country's schools follow an ELA curriculum, ELAR is unique to Texas, where ELAR is an integrated subject that combines the study of language arts skills with the development of reading abilities.
This collection includes hundreds of ELAR activities, aligned directly with TEKS standards to ensure Texas teachers have everything they need for their lesson plans.
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Character Analysis: New Year's Activity
Practice inferring how a character would ring in the new year with this 7-activity booklet.
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Stick Person Graphic Organizer
A simple and effective graphic organizer that can be used for a wide range of purposes including note taking, mind mapping, and planning writing responses.
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Writing Compound Sentences with Conjunctions Worksheet
Assign this worksheet to allow students to practice using coordinating conjunctions to create compound sentences.
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FIND IT! Letter Sounds Board Game
Develop letter-sound relationships using this engaging multiplayer board game with 26 alphabet cards that players match to recognizable pictures.
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How Does It End? - Final Sounds Printable or Interactive Activity
Practice spelling CVC words with this set of 15 fill-in-the-blank word cards and their matching missing letters.
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Describing Dragons Worksheet
With this 2-page worksheet, students will draw an original dragon and describe it by writing sentences using vivid adjectives.
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Rhyme Time - Match-Up Activity
A set of 32 match-up cards for students to practice rhyming.
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Nothing but Nouns Game
A game to practice working with common, proper, and collective nouns.
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Setting-Plot Relationship Worksheet
A worksheet that explores the connections between setting and plot.
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SPLAT! Capitalization Card Game
Practice capitalizing the pronoun I, the names of people, and the beginning letter in sentences with our set of 20 capitalization game cards.
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How to Make a Paper Airplane – Procedural Writing Worksheet
Explore how to make a paper airplane while your students fine-tune their procedural writing skills.
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Sight Word BINGO (Fry Word List 101-200)
Practice learning sight words 101-200 on the Fry Sight Word List with our set of 22 Sight Words Bingo cards.
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It's Time to Rhyme! - Practice Worksheet
Practice identifying and producing rhyming sets with this independent or partner worksheet.
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Character Traits Graphic Organizer
Describe the most notable mental and moral qualities of a real or fictional person.
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Governments and How They Function – Worksheet
An activity for students to research the government of two economies and write a report to compare and contrast them.
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Roll and Write – Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences
Practice writing simple, compound, and complex sentences with our Roll and Write activity.
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ABC Order - Cut and Sort Worksheet
A cut and sort worksheet to practice alphabetizing words to the third letter.
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Readers' Theater Script - That's Not My Pet
A readers’ theater script that can be used for reading fluency and expressive reading.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Fakebook Worksheet
Design a social media profile for civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. in this creative writing activity.
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Library Scavenger Hunt for Upper Elementary Grades
Explore the school library with a scavenger hunt!
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Writing Template - Primary Grades
A blank template to use for a variety of writing pieces in the primary grades.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WRITE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “write” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Noun and Verb Sort – Worksheet
A simple noun and verb sorting worksheet.
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Segmenting and Blending Mats
A set of beautifully designed templates for students to practice blending and segmenting words.
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5 W's and 1 H Graphic Organizer - Landscape
A blank 5 W’s and 1 H graphic organizer to use when planning a piece of writing text.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - COME
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “come” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Ice Cream Topic Chart - Graphic Organizer
A blank ice cream topic chart to use when planning a writing piece in any subject area.
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5 W's Graphic Organizer
A blank 5 W's graphic organizer to use when planning a piece of writing text.
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What Happened Next? – Jack and the Beanstalk Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of Jack and the Beanstalk in their own, unique way.
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Roll it! Read it! Write it! Dolch Pre-Primer Sight Words
Practice reading and writing Dolch’s pre-primer high-frequency words with this board game for multiple players.
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What Happened Next? – Alice in Wonderland Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of Alice in Wonderland in their own, unique way.
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Four In A Row Vowel Digraphs Game — OA, OW, and OE
Decode words with OA, OW, and OE vowel teams representing the long 'o' vowel sound.
- English Language Arts Worksheets
- English Language Arts Games
- English Language Arts Templates
- English Language Arts Posters
- English Language Arts Flashcards
- English Language Arts Word Walls
- English Language Arts Projects
- English Language Arts for Pre-K
- English Language Arts for Kindergarten
- English Language Arts for 1st Grade
- English Language Arts for 2nd Grade
- English Language Arts for 3rd Grade
- English Language Arts for 4th Grade
- English Language Arts for 5th Grade
- English Language Arts for 6th Grade
- English Language Arts for 7th Grade