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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Word Chains Activity
Explore phoneme manipulation with simple words using this word chain activity.
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Sound Manipulation Word Ladder Activity
Develop your students' phonological awareness with this phoneme substitution word ladder activity.
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Who Was Kiki Camarena? 3rd Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Download these 3rd grade reading comprehension worksheets that explore the story of Kiki Camarena while helping students build essential literacy skills.
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Punctuation Worksheet Pack (1st-3rd)
Download our no-prep punctuation worksheets to help your students practice their skills with using a variety of punctuation marks.
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Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives Flashcards
Create a variety of grammar activities with printable noun, verb and adjective flashcards.
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3rd Grade Reading Fluency Passages
Assess student fluency with a printable pack of reading fluency passages for 3rd grade.
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Student Reading Log Printables
Track your students' at-home reading with this printable reading log.
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Making Inferences With Pictures Worksheet
Guide your students to use pictures to make inferences with this reading worksheet.
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Writing the Alphabet - Handwriting Worksheet
Practice penmanship by tracing and writing uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Which Homophone? Worksheets
Download this differentiated homophones worksheet to help your students become more familiar with this tricky vocabulary!
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Opinion Paragraph - OREO Planning Template
Help your students write well constructed opinion paragraphs using the OREO acronym with these planning templates.
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Free Opinion Writing Bulletin Board Banner
Create a fun persuasive writing classroom display with these fun looking display banners.
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Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practice identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.
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Inherited and Acquired Plant Traits - Reading Passage
Read and learn about inherited and acquired traits in plants with a printable reading comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Greek and Latin Roots – Word Tree Anchor Charts
Encourage vocabulary development with 24 Greek and Latin root anchor charts.
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Recycling Writing Prompts - Earth Day Worksheets
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with informational writing prompts about recycling and conservation.
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How to Write a Limerick - Worksheet Pack
Use this 2-page worksheet when teaching students how to write a limerick.
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I Have, Who Has? Synonym Game
Boost vocabulary understanding with a synonym game that gets students actively listening, speaking and making meaning from words in real sentence contexts.
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Synonyms Cards Match-Up Game
Download these synonyms cards to help your students recognize words with similar meanings by playing an engaging, hands-on matching game.
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Elements of Poetry - Instructional Slide Deck
Investigate poetic elements with an interactive Elements of Poetry teaching slide deck.
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Developing Opinion Writing Skills Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to write an opinion piece with these interactive teaching slides specifically created for 3rd and 4th grade students.
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Fall Color By Part of Speech Worksheet - Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs
Use this color by part of speech worksheet as a fun fall activity with your students.
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Prepositional Phrases Practice Task Cards
Make prepositional phrases practice engaging with this set of 20 task cards, designed to help students identify and use prepositional phrases.
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Kindergarten Morning Work (August)
Practice foundational math and language arts skills during the month of August with this collection of 23 kindergarten morning work worksheets.
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Sweet Sight Words Worksheet - What
Practice reading, writing, and identifying the high-frequency word “what” from the Kindergarten-level Dolch sight words list.
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Parts of a Book Worksheets
Use these parts of a book worksheets for students to identify the various parts of a book.
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5 W's Graphic Organizer
A blank 5 W's graphic organizer to use when planning a piece of writing text.
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Sequence Persuasive Text Examples – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this example persuasive text pack to teach your students about sequencing arguments in a logical order.
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A Thinker Like Me Poem - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a poem about a thinker.
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Alphabet Handwriting Sheets - Individual
Handwriting sheets for each letter of the alphabet.
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Inference vs Prediction - Presentation
A teaching presentation outlining the similarities and differences between an inference and a prediction.
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Coordinating Conjunctions Craft Activity
Encourage your students to get hands on with this highly visual representation of coordinating conjunctions and the role they play in linking two ideas in a sentence.
- 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