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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Free Author’s Purpose Handout
Use this Author’s Purpose Handout in the form of a brochure to explore the different reasons authors write.
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Subject Verb Agreement PowerPoint
Use this PowerPoint presentation on subject-verb agreement to teach your students about singular and plural subject-verb agreement in a clear and engaging way.
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Letter Formation Worksheets - Uppercase, Lowercase, and Sentence Writing
A set of 26 letter formation worksheets that include uppercase and lowercase letters as well as sentence writing.
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SCOOT! Context Clues Activity Cards
Play SCOOT!, a Context Clues Activity to practice identifying unknown words in sentences.
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Comma Llama - Comma Rules Anchor Chart
Make learning comma rules engaging and memorable with our Comma Llama - Comma Rules Anchor Chart!
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Picture Prompts for Simple Sentences Flipbook
Encourage early writers to build confidence with this interactive flipbook!
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Spelling Detectives Worksheets - Fixing Spelling Errors (3-4)
Build spelling and editing skills with printable ‘Find the Spelling Errors’ Worksheets.
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Name Tracing Worksheets - Auto-Fill Handwriting Sheets
Use our Auto-Fill Name Tracing Worksheets PDF to easily create name tracing worksheets.
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Opinion Writing Task - Movies Are More Enjoyable Than Books
Help students construct a detailed and reasoned opinion text with this opinion writing activity.
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The History of Morse Code - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension activity relating to technologies and codes.
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Word Chains Activity
Explore phoneme manipulation with simple words using this word chain activity.
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Pronouns Teaching Slides
Use these pronoun slides to teach your students about some of the most common types of pronouns.
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Possessive Pronouns Interactive Activity
Use these digital possessive pronouns exercises in your grammar lessons to give your students practice in using these essential parts of speech.
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Personal Pronouns Worksheet Pack
Use this personal pronouns worksheet pack to get your students identifying and using these essential parts of speech.
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Pronoun Task Cards
Get your students to practice using pronouns with this set of task cards perfect for reading centers.
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How Do Rocks Form? – Informative Text Structure Sequencing Activity
Help students learn about informative text structure and how rocks are formed with an engaging cut-and-paste sorting activity.
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Possessive Pronouns Sorting Activity
Use this sorting activity in your grammar lessons to teach your students about possessive pronouns.
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Personal Pronouns Matching Game
Familiarize your students with some of the most common personal pronouns using this fun matching game perfect for group work.
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Informative Text Writing Task – Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
Research and write about how volcanoes erupt with a scaffolded informational writing task.
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Roll-a-Holiday Poem Dice Game
Get your students to write fun holiday poems with this engaging “Roll-a-Poem” dice game.
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3rd Grade States of Matter - Reading Worksheets
Teach science and reading skills with a set of printable 3rd Grade Reading Worksheets about the 3 states of matter.
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Core Vocabulary Board - Bulletin Board Set
Ignite student interest with fun vocabulary building activities that make learning new words interactive through our core vocabulary board set for a word of the day or week routine!
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Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
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Cut and Paste Shades of Meaning Verb Sort
Engage your students in exploring subtle differences between verbs with this set of two cut and paste worksheets.
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Grammar Practice Worksheets - Vocabulary Cut and Sort
Review parts of speech and word usage skills with a pack of cut-and-paste Grammar Sorting Worksheets.
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Spin and Blend Onset and Rime Pack
Practice blending onset and rime words with this set of spin and blend worksheets.
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Dialogue Tags List - Vocabulary Chart
Use a Dialogue Tags list to expand your students’ vocabularies and encourage better character development in their writing.
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Dotted-Lined Handwriting Paper - Portrait
Use these printable dotted-lined handwriting paper templates to develop your students' letter formation skills in the kindergarten classroom.
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Biography of a Paralympian – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the life and achievements of a famous Paralympic athlete with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Strong Verbs Teaching Slides
Discover how to use strong verbs in sentences with this set of teaching slides.
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Informative Writing Fact Files - Differentiated Writing Worksheets
Teach your students to write informative texts using a pack of differentiated Informative Writing Fact File Worksheets.
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Back to School - Personalized Name Coloring Bookmarks
Inspire your new students to read, read, read with their very own personalized name bookmark to color!
- 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