ELA Curriculum Map

Map your English Language Arts curriculum for the year, organizing reading units, writing genres, and speaking/listening experiences across the calendar while ensuring balanced attention to all literacy strands.

ELAElementary (K–5)Middle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

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When to use this template

  • Annual ELA curriculum planning across a full course
  • Ensuring balanced coverage of reading, writing, speaking, and language standards
  • Department coordination for consistent ELA curriculum delivery
  • When integrating independent reading, small-group instruction, and whole-class units
  • After a year of teaching, revising the map based on what worked and what did not

Template sections

Define the course, identify the standards framework, and articulate the year's literacy goals.

Course name and grade:

Standards framework:

Year-long literacy goals (reading, writing, speaking, language):

Major texts (canonical texts, mentor texts, read-alouds):

Writing genres covered:

Map the unit sequence across the year, showing how literary and informational reading alternate or connect.

Unit 1 (weeks, essential question, anchor texts, primary writing genre):

Unit 2:

...

Balance of literary vs. informational texts across the year:

Balance of argument, informational, and narrative writing:

Map the reading arc: whole-class texts, small-group texts, independent reading, and text complexity progression.

Whole-class anchor texts by unit:

Small-group and differentiated reading by unit:

Independent reading time allocation (weekly):

Text complexity progression:

Balance of literary/informational by grade-level standard:

Map when each writing genre is taught and in what depth across the year.

Argument writing (which unit(s), how many weeks, major assignment):

Informational/explanatory writing:

Narrative writing:

Shorter writing tasks (throughout the year):

Publishing opportunities:

Map reading, writing, speaking, and language standards across the year.

Reading literature standards (by unit):

Reading informational standards:

Writing standards:

Speaking and listening standards:

Language standards:

Standards receiving insufficient attention:

Map major literacy assessments across the year.

Major writing assessments (by unit and genre):

Reading assessments (comprehension, analysis, fluency):

Speaking/listening assessments (discussion, presentation):

Standardized testing alignment:

Portfolio or cumulative assessment:

The Flip Perspective

ELA curriculum maps work when they show how reading, writing, and discussion connect, not when they list skills in a sequence. This map helps you design a year where literary and informational reading, argument and narrative writing, and academic discussion all receive sustained, balanced attention.

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Adapting this Template

For ELA

For literacy lessons, ELA Map helps scaffold close reading and analytical writing with clear thinking phases.

About the ELA Map framework

ELA curriculum mapping is complex because literacy learning is not sequential in the same way mathematics learning is. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills develop simultaneously and reinforce each other, and they develop through engagement with texts and ideas, not just through skill instruction.

The literacy strands: ELA curriculum must address four strands: reading (literary and informational), writing (argument, informational, narrative), speaking/listening (discussion, presentation, media), and language (vocabulary, grammar, conventions). A curriculum map should show how these strands are addressed across the year and how they connect to each other within each unit.

Text complexity progression: One of the most important sequencing decisions in ELA is text complexity. A curriculum map should show how the complexity of texts students encounter increases across the year, and how the balance between literary and informational texts reflects the standards' expectations for your grade level.

Writing genre rotation: Students need sustained exposure to multiple writing genres. A curriculum map should show when students are writing argument, when they are writing informational/explanatory text, and when they are writing narrative, and ensure that each genre receives substantial instructional time, not just a brief unit.

Independent reading: An effective ELA curriculum map includes dedicated time for independent reading alongside the whole-class and small-group reading units. Independent reading is not enrichment; it is the highest-volume literacy practice and one of the strongest predictors of reading growth.

Vocabulary development: Vocabulary grows most effectively when it is developed in context across the year, not through word lists. A curriculum map should show how vocabulary instruction is integrated into reading units rather than isolated in word-of-the-week activities.

Year-Long Map

Map your entire course across 36 weeks, organizing units, standards coverage, and major assessments so you can see the full year at a glance and spot gaps before the school year begins.

Scope & Sequence

Document the breadth and order of your curriculum: what you will teach (scope) and in what sequence, to ensure coherent vertical alignment and consistent coverage across classrooms or grade levels.

ELA Unit

Plan an English Language Arts unit that integrates reading, writing, speaking, and language, organized around anchor texts and an essential question that gives the unit coherence and purpose.

Thematic Unit

Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.

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Frequently asked questions

The Common Core and similar standards specify percentages (roughly 50/50 in elementary, shifting to 30% literary/70% informational by Grade 12 across all subjects). In ELA class specifically, maintain more balance than the overall standard requires, since literary texts are the ELA teacher's responsibility in a way they are not for content-area teachers.
Research supports at least 20–30 minutes of independent reading per day for significant reading growth. In a typical 50-minute ELA period, dedicating 10–15 minutes to independent reading is a reasonable target. Map this explicitly; otherwise independent reading gets crowded out by other demands.
Yes, but as embedded within writing units rather than standalone grammar units. Map which grammar concepts are taught within each writing unit, connected to the genre and craft elements being developed. Isolated grammar instruction has weak research support for improving writing quality.
Embed speaking and listening explicitly in unit plans: Socratic seminars, structured academic controversy, presentation days. When the curriculum map shows discussion protocols by unit, teachers plan for them rather than fitting them in when there is extra time (which there never is).
The principles are the same, but you have more time to allocate. Use the additional time for more extended independent reading, more frequent writing, and more small-group instruction. Map each strand (reading workshop, writing workshop, word study, speaking/listening) separately with realistic time allocations.
ELA naturally lends itself to active learning: Socratic seminars, literature circles, peer revision workshops, and dramatic performances are all student-driven by design. Your curriculum map can show where these approaches anchor each unit so they become planned experiences rather than occasional extras. Use this map to see the full reading and writing arc and Flip to generate the individual lessons that make each discussion or workshop session effective.
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