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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Story Elements Graphic Organizers – Portrait
Encourage your students to write and draw about various story elements with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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Main Idea Comprehension Task Cards and Worksheets
Download this set of comprehension task cards to help students find the main idea when reading.
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Comprehension Worksheets - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Read and learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Metaphors Worksheet
Practice identifying and using metaphors with this differentiated metaphors worksheet.
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Character Anchor Charts - Traits, Feelings, and Appearances
A set of 3 posters depicting words and phrases that can be used to describe a character traits, feelings and appearance.
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Write a Spooky Story - Scaffolded Writing Project
Inspire your struggling writers to write spooky stories that contain all of the story elements with a set of scaffolded writing activities and final draft paper.
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Using Commas in Dates and Series - SCOOT! Game
Practice using commas in dates and series with a whole-class SCOOT game!
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Parts of Speech Card Game – Editable
An editable parts of speech card game.
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Verb Past Tense Worksheet
A worksheet with simple and irregular past tense verbs added to complete the sentences.
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Exploring Earthquakes Comprehension Worksheets
Give your students a clear, engaging introduction to earthquakes, what causes them, and how scientists measure them with printable Earthquakes Comprehension Worksheets.
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Ending Punctuation Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this set of ending punctuation cut and paste worksheets to practice adding the correct punctuation marks to the end of sentences.
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Free Story Prediction Worksheet
Encourage students to think critically before reading with this Story Prediction Worksheet.
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Word Detective Worksheet - Context Clues
Assign our Word Detective Worksheet to give your students extra practice in using context clues to find the meaning of unfamiliar words.
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Letter Sounds Games - Four in a Row
Practice applying letter-sound correspondence with 26 picture cards, 26 letter cards, and a beginning letter sounds picture game board.
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Time Order Words - Transition Words Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time-order transition word cards.
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Suffix Mini Anchor Charts
Give your students a visual reminder of the meanings of 28 suffixes with a printable set of miniature anchor charts.
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Dia de Los Muertos - The Day of the Dead Printable Book
Promote cultural awareness and learn about the Mexican holiday of Dia de Muertos or the Day of the Dead.
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R-Controlled Vowel Phoneme Spotter Stories
Use this set of decodable texts featuring various graphemes that make r-controlled vowel sounds.
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Halloween Analogies Worksheet Pack
Boost critical thinking and vocabulary skills with a Halloween Analogies Worksheet pack, perfect for adding some spooky fun to your ELA lesson plans.
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Sorting Text Features Cut and Paste
Build confidence and comprehension with this ready-to-use Text Features Cut and Paste Worksheet!
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2nd Grade Hurricane Worksheets - Reading Comprehension
Read and learn about hurricanes with our 2nd Grade Hurricane Worksheets resource pack.
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Beginning, Middle End Worksheets
Explore the main structure and story elements in a short story with these beginning, middle and end worksheets.
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Great White Shark Information Report – Writing Project
Get your students writing an informational text about sharks using this age-appropriate fact file and writing scaffold.
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The Force of Gravity Comprehension Worksheets
Download this gravity worksheet to teach your 3rd grade students about the force of gravity and its impact on our daily lives.
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Halloween Narrative Writing Prompts — Finish the Story Writing Activity
Develop narrative writing skills this Halloween season with a printable “Finish the Story” writing prompt and craft.
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Halloween Roll-a-Story Dice Game
Spark spooky creativity with this Halloween Roll a Story game that helps students generate exciting writing prompts while making narrative writing fun and engaging.
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Main Idea and Details Worksheets
Practice finding the main idea and supporting detail with this pack of main idea worksheets.
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Double Consonant Rule - Word Building Cards
Practice spelling and building words that need double consonants when adding suffixes with a word-building center.
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Main Idea and Details in Nonfiction Text — Instructional Slide Deck
Build skills in identifying main idea and details in nonfiction texts with an instructional slide deck for primary grades.
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Noun Suffixes Worksheet Pack
Use this noun suffixes worksheet pack to help students recognize, apply and spell noun-forming suffixes such as ness, ment, ion, tion, ship and hood.
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Morpheme Match Up Game
Review concepts learned in your prefix and suffix lessons by ensuring students understand word parts with a matching activity.
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Reading World Scavenger Hunt
A set of 20 reading tasks for your students to complete as part of a reading challenge.
- 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