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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Writing Paper with Picture Box - Differentiated Templates
Help your students organize and display their writing and artwork using printable writing paper with picture boxes,
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Comprehension Worksheets - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Read and learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Student Reading Log Printables
Track your students' at-home reading with this printable reading log.
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Free ABC Tracing Sheet Bundle Pack
Use ABC Tracing Worksheets to help your students develop their handwriting and fine motor skills.
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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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Main Idea and Details Worksheets
Practice finding the main idea and supporting detail with this pack of main idea worksheets.
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Prefix and Suffix Anchor Charts
Increase vocabulary skills with anchor charts about prefixes and suffixes.
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Alphabet Letter Match
A fun match-up activity to consolidate your students' knowledge of uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Free Printable Lined Paper Templates
Use this free printable lined paper pack to encourage students to write and publish their work in your classroom writing station.
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Finding the Main Idea in Nonfiction Text Worksheet
Identify supporting evidence for the main idea of an informational text passage and answer the comprehension questions.
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Word Power Vocabulary Worksheet
A comic book themed worksheet to use in the classroom when building vocabulary.
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Sight Word Cards - Dolch Pre-Primer
Dolch pre-primer sight words on flash cards.
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Vocabulary Dice Roll Activity
6 vocabulary activities to use with a range of words.
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Finding the Main Idea in Fiction Texts Interactive Activity
Help your students easily find the main idea and support details in a fiction text with this interactive activity.
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The Pony Express - Comprehension Passage Worksheet
Teach your students how to write a constructed response paragraph and integrate grade level Social studies concepts with a free Pony Express worksheet and ten-question comprehension assessment.
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Library Scavenger Hunt for Upper Elementary Grades
Explore the school library with a scavenger hunt!
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Narrative Writing Planning Template
A template for students to use when planning a narrative text.
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Report Writing Wheel Template
Put away those informational text worksheets and replace them with this engaging wheel template!
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Soup, Salad, or Sandwich? Game - Interactive Icebreaker
Play the Soup, Salad, or Sandwich? Game for an exciting Back-to-School Icebreaker activity!
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Free Character Traits List
Teach your students to analyze characters more effectively by providing them with a list of character traits.
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Adverb Crossword – Worksheet
A crossword for students to review different adverbs.
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Finding Word Meaning In Context - Word Detective Worksheet
A teaching resource to help teach your students how to find word meaning in context.
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Information Text Fact Files and Scaffolding Sheet
Use this set of informational writing prompts to support your students in writing a detailed and well-structured factual report.
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Is It True? Listening Activity
Practice your students' listening skills with this listening activity.
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Sight Word Cards - Dolch Grade 1
Dolch Grade 1 sight words on flash cards.
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Sequence an Information Text – Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use these informational text examples to teach your students about sequencing facts in a logical order.
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Trace, Draw and Order Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of sentence cut-and-paste worksheets to help your students build simple sentences.
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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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Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of five grammar worksheets to teach about the structures of simple, compound and complex sentences.
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Super Synonyms List
Boost your students’ vocabularies with a synonyms list to reference in their daily writing lessons.
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Author's Purpose Anchor Chart
A poster highlighting the three main reasons an author writes a piece of text - to persuade, to inform, to entertain.
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Amelia Earhart Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this passage, second grade writing prompt, and worksheet to help students write a constructed response paragraph about Amelia Earhart.
- English Language Arts for For Pre Kindergarten
- English Language Arts for For Kindergarten
- English Language Arts for For 1st Grade
- English Language Arts for For Grade 2
- English Language Arts for For 3rd Grade
- English Language Arts for For 4th Grade
- English Language Arts for For 5th Grade
- English Language Arts for For 6th Grade
- English Language Arts for For 7th Grade