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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Landscape Adjective Hunt Worksheet Pack
Use these worksheets to help your Year 2 students bring settings to life using adjectives in descriptive writing.
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Free High Frequency Word Lists
Use this set of leveled high frequency word lists which are a collection of the most commonly used words divided into heart words and flash words for teaching purposes.
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Types of Point of View in Literature Poster
Teach the types of point of view in literature with this classroom poster that explains first person, third person limited, and third person omniscient narration.
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Kn, Ph and Wr Digraph Picture Cards - Free
Use our Digraph Picture Cards to introduce your students to kn, ph and wr digraph words.
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Making Predictions from Sentences Worksheets
Practice making predictions with sentences using this set of making predictions worksheets.
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Identifying Colors Game
Explore colors with your students using this fun and engaging identifying colors game.
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CVC Change the Letter Digital Activity
Use this CVC Change the Letter digital activity to help students develop their phonemic awareness skills through phoneme manipulation
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Grammar Practice Worksheets - Vocabulary Cut and Sort
Review parts of speech and word usage skills with a pack of cut-and-paste Grammar Sorting Worksheets.
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The Olympic Games - Reading Comprehension Task
Encourage students to apply a range of comprehension and writing skills when finding out interesting fun facts about the Olympics with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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Alphabet Letter-Sound Correspondence Assessment Pack
Assess your students abilities to write their names, identify letters, letter sounds, and initial/middle/ending sounds with a printable alphabet assessment pack.
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Penguin Adaptations Printables - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the fascinating world of penguins and their adaptations with our set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for 2nd and 3rd graders.
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Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences Worksheet Pack
Use this set of five grammar worksheets to teach about the structures of simple, compound and complex sentences.
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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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Prefix Fun! - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Cut and paste to build words with prefixes with an fun and free prefix worksheet.
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Synonyms and Antonyms Practice - Worksheets
Boost vocabulary skills with daily review worksheets on synonyms and antonyms.
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Types of Poetry Anchor Charts with Annotations
Introduce structured forms of poetry to your students with this set of 9 annotated poetry posters.
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Inquiry Project - Template
A diverse template to help students craft inquiry questions to produce different types of research projects.
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Rhyming Match Worksheet Pack
Identify rhyming words through images with this set of 5 worksheets.
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Reading Worksheets - The Business of Bees (5th Grade)
Read and learn about bees, pollination and honey production with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Capital Letter and Periods Worksheet Set
Explore capital letters at the start of sentences and periods at the end with this puncutation worksheet set.
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Let Me Persuade You - Persuasive Writing Activity
Use this persuasive writing prompt to encourage younger students to persuade readers to buy their lunchbox design.
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Phonemic Awareness Cards
Use these 32 phonemic awareness cards to develop your student's phonics knowledge.
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10-100 Book Challenge Reading Log Bookshelf Template
Start and track progress through your reading challenge with a fun 100 Book Challenge reading log bookshelf template!
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Narrator and Point of View Digital Quiz
Discover how narrator and point of view can be taught in a fun and engaging way with this interactive quiz designed to help elementary students become confident readers and critical thinkers.
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How to Write a Fractured Fairy Tale Worksheet Pack
Engage students in narrative writing and explore how to write a fractured fairy tale with this set of worksheets
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Helpful Honey Bees Worksheet Pack - 2nd Grade
Read and learn about honey bees with a Printable Honey Bees Worksheet Pack for second grade.
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Free Spelling Worksheets for Any List
Grab these spelling worksheets for any list and use them to prep your weekly spelling homework with ease!
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Free Author’s Purpose Handout
Use this Author’s Purpose Handout in the form of a brochure to explore the different reasons authors write.
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Subject Verb Agreement Anchor Chart
Display this subject-verb agreement anchor chart in your classroom to help students master singular and plural subject-verb pairs with clear explanations and example sentences.
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Letter Formation Worksheets - Uppercase, Lowercase, and Sentence Writing
A set of 26 letter formation worksheets that include uppercase and lowercase letters as well as sentence writing.
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Free Talking Marks Worksheets
Download your free Talking Marks Worksheets and give your students additional practice adding quotations to dialogue.
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Fluency Assessment Tool
Use our fluency assessment tool to gauge your students’ oral reading fluency, speed, accuracy, and more!
- 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