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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How to Make a Sundae - Informational Writing Craftivity
Inspire students to write informational text with a fun, summer-themed end-of-year writing assignment and craft.
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Find What Doesn’t Fit: Relevant Details Worksheet
Practice determining what details are relevant and irrelevant to a topic while providing a purposeful context.
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Plan a Summer Trip
Prepare for a summer vacation with an end-of-the-year STEM activity.
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Grammar Grid Mystery Picture Worksheet- Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives (Bunny)
Follow the color-coded parts of speech guide to fill in the word grid and reveal a mystery image.
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Roll and Write - Simple and Compound Sentences
Practice writing simple and compound sentences with our Roll and Write activity.
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Springtime Blooms – Comprehension Task
An article about springtime blooms and festivals paired with a comprehension task.
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Narrative Writing Planning Template
A template for students to use when planning a narrative text.
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Reading Comprehension Strategies PowerPoint - Visualizing
A 12 slide editable PowerPoint template explaining the reading comprehension strategy of visualizing.
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Narrative Plot Structure - Story Mountain Template
Use a story mountain template to help your students write narrative stories.
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Combining Words - Compound Word Worksheets for Kids
Combine word parts to build compound nouns with a printable compound word worksheet.
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Baby Animals Reading Worksheets - 1st Grade
Learn about animals and their babies with a pack of printable Animal Babies Reading Worksheets for 1st grade.
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Compound Words - Worksheet Pack
Practice using compound words in sentences with. a pair of printable compound word worksheets for older students.
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Kangaroo Adaptations – Reading Comprehension PDF Worksheets
Discover amazing kangaroo adaptations with a printable Reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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Rhetorical Devices Word Search
Familiarize your students with the most common rhetorical devices with a fun word search.
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Consonant Digraph Cut-and-Paste Worksheets
Reinforce your students' knowledge of consonant digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Christmas Singular and Plural Noun Worksheets
Review plural noun rules and add some holiday fun to your Language Arts lessons with a set of printable plural and singular noun worksheets.
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Reading Response Template – Inferring and Predicting
Guide your students to make inferences and predictions with a piece of text using the one-page template.
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Character Traits Anchor Charts
Remind your students about the difference between external and internal character traits with this set of three classroom anchor charts.
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50-Book Challenge Tracker & Printable Bookmark
Encourage your students to complete the 50 Book Reading Challenge with a printable bookmark to track their books.
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Inflectional Endings - Spelling with Suffixes Worksheets
Spell words with the inflectional endings -ed, -ing, -s, -es and -ies with a pack of printable practice worksheets covering inflected endings.
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Mother's Day Worksheets
Complete these Mother’s Day related worksheets to pop in a Mother’s Day card.
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Synonym and Antonym Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of synonyms and antonyms with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
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Reading Comprehension Worksheet - American Flag Facts
Boost reading comprehension skills and knowledge of American flag facts with a printable reading comprehension worksheet.
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Decoding Strategy Poster Pack
Display different decoding strategies in the classroom with this printable poster pack.
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Character Anchor Charts - Traits, Feelings, and Appearances
A set of 3 posters depicting words and phrases that can be used to describe a character traits, feelings and appearance.
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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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Complete and Incomplete Sentence Task Cards
These task cards are best used as independent practice or formative assessment assignments during sentence structure lessons.
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The Lost Library Card – Whole Class Escape Game
Use inference and problem-solving skills to decipher the puzzles and uncover the hidden code.
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Figurative Language Task Cards
Practice working with figurative language with this set of 12 task cards.
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Quick Phonics Screener- Single Letter Phoneme
Test your students' knowledge of single letter phonemes with this student assessment kit.
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Biography Timeline Template
Use this multipurpose timeline template for a variety of assignments, projects, and more!
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Short Vowels or BUST! Card Game
This phonological awareness activity awards points for correctly identifying the words with short vowel sounds.
- 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