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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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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Biography Flipbook Template
Create a flipbook that clearly illustrates the most significant aspects of a biography subject.
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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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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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Suffix Worksheet: -ty and -ity
Practice using the suffixes -ty and -ity with a printable suffix worksheet.
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Initial Letter Coloring Worksheet
Identify the first letter for each picture and then color it.
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Alphabet Handwriting Sheets - Individual
Handwriting sheets for each letter of the alphabet.
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Readers' Theater Script - The Lion and the Mouse
A readers’ theater script that can be used for reading fluency and expressive reading.
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My Mini Book Report
Have students write about their favorite literature with this fun-sized mini-book.
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Identifying Parts of Speech (Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs) Worksheet Pack
Practice identifying nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs in text with this set of worksheets.
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Narrative Setting Prompts Posters
A set of 2 posters giving ideas for the setting of a narrative.
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Cat Handwriting Paper - Dotted Middle Line
A set of handwriting lines to use when teaching your students how to sit their letters properly on a line.
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Introduction to Homophones Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to use homophones correctly in their writing with this comprehensive set of teaching slides.
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CVC Letters
A sheet of letters to use when making CVC words.
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Note-taking Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when taking notes.
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Write A Sentence Worksheet
A worksheet for beginner writers to practice their handwriting.
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Soccer Cloze Worksheet
A vocabulary cloze worksheet about soccer.
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Olympic Host City Bid – Speechwriting Project
Explore the advantages and disadvantages of being the host city for the Olympics in this inquiry and speechwriting task.
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Introduction to Narrative Features PowerPoint - Grade 3 and Grade 4
A 23 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the features of narrative texts.
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Snakes and Ladders Game Board Template
Create a fun activity for any subject area with this black-and-white board game template.
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Upper Grades Morning Work PowerPoint
An engaging 79-slide PowerPoint to use in the classroom for independent morning work.
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Build a Fact File Template
Get a sense of separating fact from opinion in texts with this graphic organizer.
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Adapt a Short Story – Write the Ending
Get your students to write the ending of an existing story with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Building Tension in Narrative Writing Teaching Slides
Teach how to build tension in narrative writing with this interactive presentation that explains eight author techniques for creating suspense and excitement in stories.
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Letter Recognition Worksheet Pack
Use this set of Alphabet Letter Recognition Worksheets to help students recognize, name, and identify both uppercase and lowercase.
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Exploring and Building Narrative Characters PowerPoint
Use this editable PowerPoint template when teaching younger students about how to build a character for a narrative text.
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Syllable Activity – Animal Puzzle
Build students phonological awareness with this syllable activity where students build animal pictures with the number of syllables.
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Syllable Flashcards
Develop phonological awareness in young children with our Syllable Flashcards.
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Embedded Clause Worksheets
Teach the embedded clause with these engaging and easy-to-use worksheets designed to build understanding through clear examples and guided practice.
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Parts of a Book Poster
Discover the parts of a book and understand the conventions of print with this classroom poster.
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Melted Snowman Craft Activity
Have some winter crafting fun with our Melted Snowman Craft template and writing activity.
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Build a Sentence Activity - Sentence Clothesline
Create simple sentences with this printable Build a Sentence Activity Sentence Clothesline resource.
- 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