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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Ocean Writing Center
Build stronger vocabulary and writing skills with an ocean-themed writing center.
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Positive, Comparative, Superlative Adverbs Worksheet
Practice using positive, comparative, and superlative adverbs with an adverb worksheet.
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Prose, Poetry, and Drama Teaching Presentation
Teach your students the difference between poetry, prose, and drama with an interactive Google Slides teaching presentation.
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Greek and Latin Roots- Vocabulary Notebook
Enhance vocabulary containing Greek and Latin roots with a Google Slides Interactive vocabulary notebook. Also available in print format.
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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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Milton Hershey RACES Writing Strategy Worksheets
Bring National Chocolate Day into your classroom with a biography and RACES writing worksheet about Milton Hershey.
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Singular and Plural Subject Verb Agreement – Interactive Activity
Teach singular and plural subject-verb agreement with this interactive drag-and-drop resource, designed to help students master correct verb usage in a fun and engaging way.
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R-Controlled Vowel Posters
Supplement your phonics curriculum with an R-controlled vowel poster display.
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Find What Doesn’t Fit: Relevant Details Worksheet
Practice determining what details are relevant and irrelevant to a topic while providing a purposeful context.
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Positional Words for Kindergarten – Interactive Clip Cards
Teach positional words for kindergarten with these interactive digital clip cards, designed to help young learners master prepositions.
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Using Commas in Dates and Series -Task Cards
Practice correct comma placement in dates and series with task cards
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Past, Present, and Future Tense Worksheets - Grades 1/2
Provide students with additional verb tense practice with worksheets focusing on changing verbs into past, present, and future tense.
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Comma Task Cards - Grades 4-6
Practice correct comma placement in dates, series, and compound and complex sentences.
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Opinion Writing for 1st Graders - Worksheet Bundle
Help your first graders learn how to write an opinion piece using these handy writing prompt worksheets.
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The Lost Library Card – Whole Class Escape Game
Use inference and problem-solving skills to decipher the puzzles and uncover the hidden code.
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Persuasive Writing Activity - Dear Mr Groundhog
Write a letter to Mr. Groundhog about the weather using this persuasive writing worksheet.
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I Have a Dream - Speech Analysis Activity
Review MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech text and explore the metaphors he used to convey his message through the accompanying questions.
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Write a Short Story – The Tale of Transformation
Get your students analyzing and writing a story with a lesson with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Mood in Narrative Writing – Text Analysis Worksheets
Teach mood in narrative writing with this set of four worksheets designed to help students explore narrative atmosphere in the context of real texts.
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Describe a Story Setting Worksheets
Download these engaging story setting worksheets that help students brainstorm descriptive language and write vivid setting descriptions with ease.
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Color by Parts of Speech - Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives - Octopus
A fun activity to use when learning about nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WAS
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “was” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WHO
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “who” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Alphabetical Order Task Cards - Set 1
A set of 11 task cards alphabetizing a series of words to the first letter.
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What's the Theme? - Graphic Organizer
Outline and determine the theme of a text with this 1-page graphic organizer worksheet.
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Readers Theater – Play Writing Template
A template for students to use when writing their own Readers Theater script.
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Sweet Sight Words - Pre-K Dolch Sight Words Board Game
Practice reading high-frequency words with this board game of 41 pre-kindergarten Dolch sight word cards.
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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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Revising Our Writing - Adding, Deleting, and Rearranging Worksheet
Practice revising writing by adding, deleting, and rearranging text for substance and clarity.
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3-2-1 Text Reflection Template
Quickly assess your students' comprehension after reading a fictional text with this 3-2-1 reflection activity.
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Setting-Plot Relationship Worksheet
A worksheet that explores the connections between setting and plot.
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Past, Present, and Future Simple Tense Verbs Worksheet
Practice identifying past, present, and future tense verbs with this ad-lib style worksheet.
- 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