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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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - UP
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “up” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - CAN
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “can” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - COME
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “come” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Hamburger Graphic Organizer
Use this blank hamburger graphic organizer to help students visually outline the key components of a good paragraph.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - MY
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “my” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - FOR
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “for” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - HERE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “here” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - A
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “a” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - BIG
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “big” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Color by Sight Words - 4 Words - Butterfly
A fun coloring activity to use when working with sight words.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - MAKE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “make” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - ME
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “me” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - SEE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “see” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Roll it! Read it! Write it! Dolch 1st Grade Sight Words
Practice reading and writing Dolch’s first grade high-frequency words with this board game for multiple players.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - NOT
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “not” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Roll it! Read it! Write it! Dolch Pre-Primer Sight Words
Practice reading and writing Dolch’s pre-primer high-frequency words with this board game for multiple players.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - THE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “the” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Celebrating Inspirational Women Inquiry Task
An inquiry task to use in the classroom when learning about inspirational contemporary women.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - IS
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “is” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - IT
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “it” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - GO
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “go” from the Pre-Primer Dolch sight words list.
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Initial Sounds Worksheet
A worksheet to practice beginning sounds.
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Sound Devices Sorting Activity
Reinforce sound devices used in text by sorting 16 poetic device cards into their appropriate category.
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5th Grade Revising and Editing Passages
Use this set of 5th grade revising and editing passages to help your students demonstrate their spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge.
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3rd Grade Revising and Editing Passages
Use this set of 3rd grade revising and editing passages to help your students demonstrate their spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge.
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Alphabetical Order – Worksheet
Review putting words in alphabetical order with this 2-page worksheet.
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Text Features Worksheet
Download this nonfiction text features worksheet so students can practice locating different types of text features found in a nonfiction text.
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Writing Checklist Anchor Chart
Get your students using this writing conventions anchor chart to edit their work across multiple genres.
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Subject and Object Pronouns Worksheet
Download this 2-page worksheet to get your students using objective and subjective pronouns.
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Read and Color Worksheet - Common and Proper Nouns
A worksheet to practice identifying common and proper nouns.
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First, Second, and Third Person Narration Posters
A set of three posters and a title page examining first, second, and third person narration.
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Present and Past Tense Irregular Verbs Matchup Cards
Practice matching present tense and past tense of irregular verbs with this matching activity.
- 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