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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Poetry Resource Folder Cover and Dividers
Use this collection of templates to organize your classroom poetry resources folder.
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Writing Procedural Texts Teaching Slides
Use this procedural writing PowerPoint to teach your students about the purpose, structural elements and language features of procedure texts.
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Little Red Riding Hood – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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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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Alphabet Matching Activity
A great matching activity for students to practice their letters and initial sounds.
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CVC Letters
A sheet of letters to use when making CVC words.
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Handwriting Paper with Dotted Middle Line - Landscape
Handwriting paper for beginning writers.
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Digraph Road Trip Board Game
A transport themed phonics board game that explores common digraphs.
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Compare and Contrast - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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The 5 Ws and 1 H Questions for Narrative Writing Poster
A 5 Ws and 1 H poster to display in the classroom.
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Inference Car Classifieds - Worksheet
A series of car classifieds worksheets to use when teaching your students how to to make inferences when reading.
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Recalling Facts - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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4th Grade Reading Fluency Passages
Assess student fluency with a printable pack of reading fluency passages for 4th grade.
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Ultimate Blends Poster Pack
Supplement your phonics curriculum with a consonant blends anchor chart/poster pack.
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Prediction vs Inference Teaching Slides
Use this prediction vs inference teaching presentation to help your students tell the difference between these two essential reading comprehension strategies.
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Initial Letter Bingo
30 different bingo cards using initial letters.
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Season Handwriting Sheets
Handwriting sheets about the seasons.
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Stand Up For Homophones - Whole-Class Activity
Help your students learn the different homophones and their meanings with an interactive, whole-class game.
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Narrative Plot Structure Diagram
A plot diagram for students to refer to when planning narrative writing.
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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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Shark-Themed Book Review Template and Poster
A fun shark-themed poster with 3 book review templates.
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Narrative Criteria Checklist Pack
Use this narrative criteria checklist pack when teaching your students how to edit their narrative writing.
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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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Show Don’t Tell Posters – Character Feelings
Use this set of Show, Don’t Tell posters to help your students describe character emotions through vivid details instead of simple statements.
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Recount Writing Planning Template
A set of differentiated templates for students to use when planning a recount.
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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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Informative Writing - Animal Research Task
Use a printable animal research organizer booklet for students to record facts about animals when learning to write informative texts.
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Common Core State Standards Progression Trackers - Kindergarten - Writing
Individual student and whole class trackers using the Writing Common Core Standards.
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Common Core State Standards Progression Trackers - Kindergarten - Speaking & Listening
Individual student and whole class trackers using the Speaking & Listening Common Core Standards.
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Common Core State Standards Progression Trackers - Kindergarten - Reading: Foundational Skills
Individual student and whole class trackers using the Reading: Foundational Skills Common Core Standards.
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Who’s the Audience? Digital Activity
Use this Who’s the Audience? Activity when discussing and identifying the purpose and audience of a variety of different community signs and texts.
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Inferring During Reading PowerPoint
Build strong comprehension skills with this engaging Inferring During Reading PowerPoint.
- 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