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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Holidays Around the World — Brazil Mini Book
Introduce your students to Brazil’s Christmas traditions and decorations with a printable Christmas Around the World Mini Book.
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Winter Words Headbands Game
Introduce winter vocabulary words with our picture and word card headband game.
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Christmas Writing - December Writing Prompts
Inspire your students to write creatively with a set of 30 Christmas writing prompts for kids.
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Christmas Connect the Dots Printables - Alphabet
Practice ordering the alphabet by connecting the dots on printable Christmas dot-to-dot worksheets.
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The Water Cycle – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science vocabulary skills with this water cycle worksheet.
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New Year's Vocabulary Cards and Writing Center
Create a vocabulary and writing center with a New Year's Day word wall and writing templates for primary grades.
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Fall Color By Part of Speech Worksheet - Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs
Use this color by part of speech worksheet as a fun fall activity with your students.
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Google Slides - Adjectives Interactive Activity
Provide your students with engaging, interactive activities to help them improve their usage of descriptive adjectives.
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Greek and Latin Roots Practice Worksheet Bundle
Practice using vocabulary containing Greek roots and Latin roots with 24 weekly root word practice worksheets.
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Paul Revere Worksheet - Constructed Response
Integrate reading, writing, and American history with a constructed response Paul Revere Worksheet highlighting the American Revolution.
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Google Slides Interactive- Past, Present, and Future Verbs Activity
Develop student skills using the correct forms of past, present, and future tense verbs with this Google Slides Interactive activity.
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Positional Words Worksheets – Where Is the Dinosaur?
Download this differentiated set of dinosaur-themed positional words worksheets, designed to support learners at different levels.
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Pyramid Reading Cards - Dolch 2nd Grade Sight Words
Practice reading Dolch's 2nd Grade Sight Words with a set of 44 pyramid sentence cards.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - What
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “what” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Pyramid Reading Cards - Dolch Grade 1 Sight Words
Practice and review the Dolch Grade 1 List of high-frequency words with 41 short phrase cards for emergent readers.
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Using Clues to Determine Meaning Worksheet
Practice defining unfamiliar words by looking for context clues within a sentence.
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What's the Connection? Worksheet
Use this reading skills worksheet to help your students learn about the types of text connections: text-to-text, text-to-self and text-to-world.
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New Year's Flip Book Template
Celebrate the coming of a new year by creating this flipbook with your students.
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Rhyming Match Worksheet Pack
Identify rhyming words through images with this set of 5 worksheets.
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Adverb Crossword – Worksheet
A crossword for students to review different adverbs.
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What Causes the Seasons? Informative Text Writing Task
Use this scaffolded writing task to have students write about how seasons change.
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3rd Grade Revising and Editing Passages
Use this set of 3rd grade revising and editing passages to help your students demonstrate their spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge.
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Sequence Persuasive Text Examples – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this example persuasive text pack to teach your students about sequencing arguments in a logical order.
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Initial Letter Coloring Worksheet
Identify the first letter for each picture and then color it.
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Would You Rather...? Question Cards
Would You Rather use this set of 31 question cards or eat a can of worms?
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Readers' Theater Script - Creepy Cat Club
A script which can be used during readers' theater or Drama sessions, aimed at students in 4th grade or higher.
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Note-taking Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when taking notes.
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Prefix Worksheet: Un- and Dis-
Build vocabulary skills with a prefix worksheet featuring the prefixes Un- and Dis-.
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4th Grade Revising and Editing Passages
Use this set of 4th grade revising and editing passages to help your students demonstrate their spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge.
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Write a Diamante Poem Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing a diamante poem with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.
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Develop a Character Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to develop a character using the STEAL technique and other characterisation methods with this comprehensive teaching presentation.
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Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Worksheet Set
Use these uppercase and lowercase matching worksheets to help students identify and name both forms of each letter.
- 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