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 - VERY
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “very” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - OFF
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “off” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - USE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “use” from the Second Grade Dolch sight words list.
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The Loudest Sound in the World – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a literary text about a princess who demands to hear the loudest sound in the world.
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Comic – Team Trials: Success Celebrators – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a comic about the importance of good sportsmanship and celebrating the success of others.
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History of Halloween – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the history of Halloween with a printable reading comprehension passage and questions.
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International Women's Day Gender Ground Rules – Task Cards
A set of task cards to be paired with the International Women's Day comic 'Gender Ground Rules'.
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Figurative Language Task Cards
Practice working with figurative language with this set of 12 task cards.
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Types of Sentences Sorting Worksheet
A cut and paste sorting worksheet to practice identifying the four types of sentences.
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Six Seconds of Brainstorming Activity
A fast-paced brainstorming activity that will leave your students begging for more!
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What's Missing? - Alphabet Worksheet
A set of worksheets to practice writing the letters of the alphabet in order.
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Guess That Genre! - Literary Genre Game
A board game to practice identifying different fictional genres.
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Using Context Clues - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice using context clues.
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What's Missing? – Interactive PowerPoint
Put those inferencing skills to use with this "guess what's missing" interactive activity for young learners.
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This or That! PowerPoint Game - Final e Words
An active PowerPoint game to practice decoding words with final -e.
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Using Words with Prefixes - Worksheet Pack
Practice using the prefixes Un-, Re-, Mis-, Pre-, Dis-, and In- with a pair of printable prefix worksheets.
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Brainstorming for Essays Worksheet
A worksheet to practice using Venn diagrams, mind maps, and cause and effect maps to brainstorm for various essays.
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What's Your Claim? Worksheet
Identify elements of an argumentative essay and write original claim sentences to support individual reasoning.
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Pollinators – Comprehension Task
An article and comprehension task about pollinators.
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Syllables Dominoes
Segment and count syllables in words with a set of 28 image and number dominoes.
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Phoneme Deletion Task Cards
Delete phonemes to form new words with this set of 16 task cards.
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Phoneme Addition Task Cards
Create new words by adding phonemes with this set of 16 task cards.
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Color by Sight Words - 5 Words - Dog
A fun coloring activity to use when working with sight words.
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Find and Color - Verb Tense Worksheet
Differentiate between different verb tenses through this 1-page coloring worksheet.
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Organizational Patterns – Sorting Activity
A set of flashcards and paragraphs to use as a sorting activity.
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Comical Chronicle Worksheets for 5th Grade
Practice different parts of speech with your 5th graders using this set of 10 ad-lib style stories.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - THERE
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “there” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Fictional Book Swap! - Genre Cards
A set of 12 cards to practice identifying fictional genres.
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CCVC Word Work Mat
Practice decoding and spelling simple words with this set of 24 CCVC picture task cards.
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CVC Word Work Mat
Practice decoding and spelling simple words with this set of 24 CVC picture task cards.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - WHO
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “who” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Fictional Genre Activities
A set of 28 fictional genre characteristic cards to use in a sorting or scoot 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