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How to Get Better at ELA in 2025

I’ve been teaching ELA for over 10 years now, and, to my pity, those early years weren’t all smooth. Only through countless tries and errors, I managed to clarify what works best for learners and what hinders progress. So, in this blog post, I’m going to discuss that burning question of “How to get better at ELA?” From the youngest learners and up to high school, here you’ll find the meaningful tips for everyone.

Key points

• What does ELA stand for in education? It’s the subject that teaches kids to express their thoughts fluently in speaking and writing, and better understand the gist and subtle word meanings.
• Beyond being a school subject, ELA mastery is also pivotal for academic success in other sciences and life.
• Working with a specialized tutor is the best way to shine at this subject and target the exact weak areas of young learners.
• Besides, there’s a wealth of other creative activities you can implement into your routines — a choice extends from labeling regular objects and listening to music, to organizing peer discussions.

What are the key things to learn in ELA? 

• The reading comprehension skill means that a child can understand and interpret any given information.
• Writing allows a person to clearly express their thoughts and ideas in a grammatically correct way on paper.
• The speaking skills are all about the ability to have engaging and meaningful conversations.
• Listening refers to one’s capability to understand what is said by others and interpret their words.

How to become better at ELA?

To become better at ELA skills, you should first figure out what you’re good at and where you might need some improvement. Once you have that down, dive into multiple language activities, ask for helpful feedback, and make sure to read a lot!

How to get better at ELA in 2025? [Tips]

• Study with ELA tutors
• Focus on understanding, not memorizing
• Talk more
• Read more
• Watch original movies
• Include learning in the everyday routine
• Start your own vocabulary
• Note down the things you don’t understand
• Label things at home
• Listen to music

How to get better at ELA: Study with ELA tutors

Best for: improving all ELA skills

From my years of teaching experience, I can firmly say that this method will suit anyone who’s asking the question of how to get better at language arts. That’s because studying with a tutor means professional attention devoted to the specific topics of the ELA area. Plus, you won’t need to spend hours and days seeking the essential material — the professional educator will do everything for you.

How to improve ELA skills with Brighterly tutors?

To improve ELA skills with Brighterly tutors, you should enroll in their 1:1 lessons and start learning. The approach at this e-platform will suit any student in grades 1 to 9 who’s looking for complete teacher focus.

But first things first: what is Brighterly? It’s a math and reading tutoring platform that is known for its highly personalized approach, interactive lessons, and curriculum customization. This site can be used for any purpose — whether you just aim to improve ELA for personal growth or seek specialized test preparation.

That said, let’s dig a bit further, exploring the unique advantages of learning at this platform.

Expert tutoring team

Scroll through the Trustpilot Brighterly reviews, and you’ll see numeric compliments concerning their math and reading tutors.

Indeed, they did a tremendous job of creating one of the most productive tutoring teams on the 2025 market. Furthermore, this e-platform has also developed a special methodology to match enrolled students with the best-fitting experts. Once registered, kids have to pass diagnostic testing. Then, based on the results, they start learning with the tutor who can satisfy their needs accurately.

Adjustable ELA program

The pivotal task of any Brighterly tutor is to create a schedule to address your child’s weaknesses and also match Common Core requirements. It helps to satisfy both needs:

• Improving academic performance
• Achieving your learning ambitions

The best part about teaching ELA at Brighterly? The reading program here prioritizes interactivity. So, lessons will include LOTS of fun games, visuals, and attention-grabbing tasks. Additionally, they also focus on other ELA areas, like writing, listening, and speaking.

Availability of free resources

If you’re not really up to learning with a tutor, you can still use Brighterly for the free resources it features, suitable for all levels from beginner to advanced. These materials they provide are exclusively developed by their teaching staff and cannot be found elsewhere. 

Free Brighterly reading resources worth trying

• Reading tests will show how well your child is currently performing. Just choose your grade and answer several Common Core-aligned questions. Voila, you have the exact score!
• Reading worksheets are the goldmine of practical tasks. Perfect for independent learners, they can be used both on your device and in print form. And, like all materials at Brighterly, they aim to engage and entertain the child, helping them fall in love with the subject.

Affordable price

Parents are usually pleased that Brighterly offers come with an affordable price tag. Make learning accessible for everyone — that’s their credo. That’s why this e-platform allows you to choose from four flexible payment options:

They won’t impose any shady fees, either. What you see on the screen is the charge per lesson and the only price you’ll have to pay in the end. Doesn’t that sound like a great way to get ELA help?

How to get better at ELA: Focus on understanding, not memorizing

Best for: improving all ELA domains

ELA, in its essence, is about understanding how words merge to create the gist. So, how to get better at ELA? Pause and check the meaning whenever you’re facing trouble — be it in speaking or writing. Similarly, when studying a specific language rule, try to understand how it works. Using real-world references is best for this! They create an emotional connection and make the particular information stand out.

How to improve ELA skills through focusing on understanding: Top 3 tips

• When learning new words, always make up a context for them. It’s difficult to memorize something in isolation; that’s why creating sentences with unknown terms is an ideal practice. Can you connect them to some essential things or events? Do it then!
• Whenever you stumble upon some topic or grammatical structure, try to discuss it. For all wondering how to study ELA, verbalizing ideas can be the key in most cases.
• Can’t discuss it? Then summarize. If you stumble upon a complex idea or concept, try to rephrase it — that’s how you grasp the plot, theme, and tone.

How to get better at ELA: Talk more

Best for: building speaking skills

According to the research, about 60% of ELA learners tend to experience talking anxiety. So, if you ever wondered how to be good at ELA speaking skills, you’re definitely not alone. But the trick is that talking is by far the most productive way to improve speaking. So, don’t omit it, but practice it and even try to become an active participant. 

Things to learn in ELA to overcome speaking anxiety

• First, try to introduce ELA instruction for speaking in a stress-free environment. Your family talks can be best here. Then, you can organize friendly chats with a kid’s peers or attend language clubs. Only when ready, encourage the child to move to the public setting.
• How to get better at ELA? Don’t focus on mistakes — they will happen anyway (in learning, and in life, too). Instead, make your child perceive them philosophically. When they occur, try to clarify them together, without any punishments or rush, of course.
• Finally, you can start with one-sentence answers before moving to extended responses. Then, gradually increase their length and complexity before they turn into a complete conversation where you talk for minutes. Remember that even small steps count when looking for how to improve ELA skills.

How to get better at ELA: Read more

Best for: boosting reading, writing & vocabulary skills

Reading is good because it allows you to interact with diverse styles, structures, vocabulary, and genres. The result? Better literacy and the ability to express your thoughts more clearly. And, of course, understanding subtle meanings is also a superpower you can get from it.

At this point, I’d like to share a little bonus for everyone looking on how to get better at ELA 8th grade through reading books. Here’s the one valuable recommendation from a Reddit user I totally agree with:

How to get better at ELA: Watch original movies

Best for: improving listening and vocabulary

Once learners realize what does ELA stand for in education, they soon start seeking the most productive ways to improve in the subject. And most commonly, listening and speaking become their priorities. Watching movies is a methodology that allows children to combine enjoyable activities with educational ones. After all, spending an evening with your favorite movie, series, or TV show brings an undeniable benefit for learning idioms, slang, and casual language.

Boosting ELA help strategy with movies and TV series: 3 essential rules

• Subtitles do help in learning. With them, even advanced learners can grasp unfamiliar words and structures, and then further explore them.
• If you’re interested in how to get better at ELA with movies, you can try pausing the video and repeating some phrases you like most. This way, you become a more fluent and confident speaker overall.
• Stick to your level from the beginning — if necessary, choose easier shows first, and then move to more complex pieces.

How to get better at ELA: Include learning in the everyday routine

Best for: enhancing vocabulary, reading & writing

Among other teacher ELA strategies, this one is a special benchmark. It literally undermines the idea that you should make English a part of your life. Most would say that it’s not as easy to do. Well, it is! Below, I share just some clues I found on Quora to help you out.

How to get better at ELA: Start your own vocabulary

Best for: developing vocabulary, reading & writing

I mean literally that: writing down unknown words by hand to have a chance to repeat them later. The sooner you start this practice, the better. And, obviously, the best time to do so is as soon as you realize what does ELA stand for in elementary school. After all, it’s not only about learning words, but also creating a strong, meaningful habit.

By the way, I’ve found you one productive tip on Reddit on how to teach ELA vocabulary and help the child memorize it better.

How to get better at ELA: Note down the things you don’t understand

Best for: improving all ELA skills

Just like with the previous tip, this methodology encourages you to write down the things you don’t know or want to discuss. These can include anything: from grammatical structures to your thoughts on a specific writing piece. No matter if you’re looking for how to get better at ELA 6th grade or improve your kid’s competence at any other level, this method proves effective for everyone.

How to be good at ELA notes: Hints & tips

• Omit generic phrases like “I don’t understand…”, which literally have no ELA teacher meaning. Instead, ask specific questions like “Why is ‘had been’ used here?”
• Divide your notebook into sections. For example, you can include a special section for grammar, for vocabulary, and for reading/writing questions. In fact, there are no rules for this — just choose the areas you really want to work on.
• If you keep noting the same confusion, set a mini-goal like: “This week, I’ll master ‘if’ clauses using videos and exercises.”

How to get better at ELA: Label things at home

Best for: boosting speaking, reading & vocabulary

Whether you’re looking for how to get better at ELA 7th grade, or your child is anywhere above or below this age, making learning an indispensable part of your life always works perfectly. As shown by the research, those students who used object labeling performed 7% better on same-day recall of concepts and a striking 21% better on delayed recall four days later.

That’s one thing. I also managed to find the Reddit proof showing the effect of this methodology.

How to get better at ELA: Listen to music

Best for: improving listening, speaking & vocabulary

Music is everywhere, so why not use it for our learning benefits? When engaging with it, kids become more comfortable with the spoken  word.  According  on Patel’s OPERA hypothesis, studying through music helps learners improve pronunciation, phonemic awareness, and long-term retention of speech sounds. 

What does ELA stand for in elementary school?

In elementary school, ELA stands for all the fun stuff that is necessary to achieve advanced knowledge later. It includes reading stories, writing simple sentences, picking up new words, speaking clearly, and listening closely.

What does ELA stand for in middle school?

In middle school, ELA covers reading both fiction and non-fiction, crafting essays and arguments, and analyzing various texts. It also includes conducting research and enhancing speaking and listening skills.

What does ELA stand for in high school?

ELA in high school stands for writing research papers and literary essays, delivering speeches, and understanding themes, tone, and structure. Students asking, “How to get better at ELA in high school?” should pay special attention to critical thinking and oral communication competencies.

Summarizing ELA meaning in education

Pompous words aside, ELA is the subject that underpins a kid’s success in all areas of study. Those who believe that things to learn in ELA just come down to knowing how to read or write are wrong. Instead, this subject teaches one to articulate thoughts clearly, no matter their complexity, and also to perceive the thoughts of other people objectively.

Thus, the ELA meaning in education is paramount. So, choose your idea methods to master this subject. Be it listening to music, reading books, or talking more — you can choose the activity that is pleasant and desired.

And for those of you who want to develop lifelong skills, working with a tutor is definitely the best option. Learning at Brighterly means a customized approach and 100% attention devoted to your child. So, why hesitate? Book reading class today and try all the functions with a demo — zero risks and maximum benefit, that’s how it works.