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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Epic Editing Workbook – 3rd and 4th Grade
Use these paragraph editing worksheets to get your students practicing and refining their proofreading skills.
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Blending Sounds Board Game
Play a game of blending sounds with your students to get them practicing their CVC word blending skills.
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Beginning Sounds Mystery Task Cards
Help students apply letter-sound correspondence with this set of 20 task cards.
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Editing Paragraphs Worksheets – 2nd Grade
Use these editing paragraphs worksheets to get your students practicing and refining their proofreading skills.
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CVC Words Bingo Game
Practice decoding simple CVC words with this set of printable Bingo boards.
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The History of Morse Code - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension activity relating to technologies and codes.
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Comparing Narrative and Informational Text Worksheets
Use this set of comparing narrative and informational text worksheets to examine the purpose and features of these two common genres.
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Phoneme Substitution Task Cards
Explore phoneme substitution with your students by using these task cards to replace individual sounds in words to make new words.
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Phoneme Manipulation Game
Explore phoneme manipulation with your students using this fun phoneme manipulation game.
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Phoneme Manipulation Worksheet Pack
Use these phoneme manipulation worksheets to help students develop their phonemic awareness skills.
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Phoneme Substitution Games - SPLAT Card Game
Use this phoneme substitution game with your students to practice substituting initial and final phonemes in short vowel words.
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Phoneme Manipulation Task Cards - Where’s My Bone?
Use this phoneme manipulation activity to engage students in listening and manipulating sounds in simple CVC words.
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Possessive Pronouns Interactive Activity
Use these digital possessive pronouns exercises in your grammar lessons to give your students practice in using these essential parts of speech.
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Personal Pronouns Interactive Activity
Use these digital personal pronouns exercises in your grammar lessons to give your students practice in using these essential parts of speech.
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Blending Words Slides and Ladders Game
Play slides and ladders with your students and get them practicing blending CVC words with this fun and engaging game board.
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Blend and Color Phoneme Blending Worksheets
Get your students blending simple CVC words with this set of blend and color worksheets.
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Personal Pronouns Roll and Cover Game
Use this pronouns game as a fun and collaborative way of learning about personal pronouns.
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The Three States of Matter – 5th Grade Reading Worksheets
Use a 5th Grade Reading Comprehension passage and worksheet to teach your students about the three states of matter.
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Pronouns Anchor Charts
Display this set of 7 pronouns anchor charts in your classroom to remind your students of the most common types of pronouns and their uses.
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Possessive Pronouns Sorting Activity
Use this sorting activity in your grammar lessons to teach your students about possessive pronouns.
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Personal Pronouns Matching Game
Familiarize your students with some of the most common personal pronouns using this fun matching game perfect for group work.
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Story Elements Four Corners
Engage your students in exploring key story elements with this Four Corners activity!
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Properties of Materials Beanbag Toss Game - Describing Matter
Explore and describe the properties of materials with an exciting beanbag toss game.
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CVC Word Blending Cut and Paste Worksheets
Help students practice blending and reading CVC words with this set of 6 cut-and-paste worksheets.
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CVC Word Blending Slide Activity
Engage students in a fun blending activity to encourage students to ‘slide’ their phonemes together with this phoneme blending mat.
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Poetry Cloze Passage Worksheets
Use these poetry cloze worksheets to introduce your students to various types of poetry in a fun and engaging way.
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Secret Code Phoneme Blending Task Cards
Explore phoneme blending with this set of engaging secret code blending CVC word task cards.
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Read the Room - Blending Words Task Cards
Get your students active and also practicing their phoneme blending skills with this fun read the room blending activity.
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Life Event Poetry Prompt Task Cards
Use these poetry prompts to help your students write simple poems about their life experiences.
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People and Places Poetry Prompt Task Cards
Use these writing prompts for poetry to help your students write simple poems about people and places.
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Five Senses Poem Craft Templates
Use this five senses craft to introduce your students to descriptive language and five senses poetry.
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Blending Interactive Notebook Template
Engage students in blending simple 3 and 4 phoneme words with this interactive flip book template.
- 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