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 Settings - Graphic Organizers
Encourage your students to write and draw about story settings with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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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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Suffix Stars - Making Plurals Interactive
Practice reading and spelling plural nouns with an engaging Google Slides digital learning activity.
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Find The Imposter! Interactive Suffix Game
Practice using the suffixes -s and -es to pluralize words with an exciting FInd the Imposter Interactive activity.
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Prefix, Suffix, and Root Word Bingo
Examine prefixes, suffixes and root words and identify their morphological meanings with this engaging bingo game.
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Make It Plural - Google Interactive Resource
Help children grasp the tricky concept of pluralizing nouns with an interactive Google Slides activity.
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Everyday Grammar Parts of Speech Warm-Ups – Grades 3 and 4
A 39-slide editable PowerPoint to use when reviewing parts of speech with your students.
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Suffix Worksheet: -less
Build vocabulary skills with a suffix worksheet featuring the suffix -less.
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Re- Prefix Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of the “Re-” prefix with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
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Prefix Word Wall - Words with Un, Re, Pre, Dis, In, and Mis
Build a vocabulary bulletin board of words with un-, re-, pre-, dis-, mis-, and in- with a printable prefix word wall display.
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Story Elements: Sequencing Jack Be Nimble
Teach your students the art of sequencing with an instructional slide deck surrounding the Jack Be Nimble nursery rhyme.
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Re- Prefix Worksheet - Morphology Passage
Practice reading, defining, and using words with the Re- prefix with a morphology reading passage worksheet.
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Prefix Worksheet: Im- and Non-
Reinforce students' understanding of im- and non- prefixes with a printable prefix worksheet.
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Four In A Row Vocabulary Game - Suffixes
Practice matching words to their common suffixes and build vocabulary with a suffix vocabulary game.
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Suffix Dominoes - Vocabulary Game
Identify new words that include common suffixes with 28 suffix and root word dominoes.
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Persuasive Words – Modality Word Wall with Information
Immerse your students in high, medium and low modality words with this set of 56 word wall cards.
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All About Clouds - Cloze Worksheet
Strengthen student understanding of different cloud types with this cloze reading worksheet.
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Short and Long Vowels Activity Pack
Segment and sort these words into their vowel sounds.
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Which Suffix is it? - Task Cards
Practice using suffixes in sentences with a set of suffix task cards.
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Word Mapping Recording Sheets
Practice mapping out words and segmenting their phonemes using these word mapping templates.
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Count and Color Sounds - Phoneme Counting Worksheets
Count and color the images that have 3 phonemes, 4 phonemes, and 5 phonemes in this worksheet set.
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Objects in the Sky – Vocabulary Cards and Writing Templates
Create a vocabulary and writing center with a word wall and writing templates that cover objects in the sky.
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Objects in the Sky – Writing Prompts
Describe objects in the sky such as the clouds, moon, and sun with this set of 8 writing prompts.
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Parts of a Dictionary Poster and Bookmark
Learn about the parts of a dictionary with this poster and bookmark combo.
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Synonyms and Antonyms Practice - Worksheets
Boost vocabulary skills with daily review worksheets on synonyms and antonyms.
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My Word of the Day Mat
A fun worksheet to use in the classroom when building vocabulary.
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Dictionary Skills Worksheet Pack
Consolidate your students’ knowledge of dictionary skills with this complete worksheet pack!
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Using a Thesaurus - Worksheets and Anchor Charts
Practice using a thesaurus with a printable thesaurus anchor chart and differentiated practice worksheets.
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Synonym Task Cards
Build vocabulary and recognition of synonyms with a set of Synonym task cards.
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Dictionary Sorting Game
Get students in the habit of researching with our dictionary activity that helps learners match a word to its definition and part of speech.
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Cursive Worksheets - Days, Months, Colors, Numbers
Trace and write days of the week, months of the year, number words, and color words in cursive.
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Shopping for Synonyms - Worksheet
Go shopping for synonyms with a fun “Synonym Shop” color by code 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