Middle school ELA curriculum for grades
6–8
Amplify ELA is a knowledge-building English language arts curriculum designed for grades 6–8. Students engage deeply with complex texts, develop critical reading and writing skills, and build the confidence to think and communicate independently.
Rated all green on EdReports, Amplify ELA earned perfect scores across all gateways. Para la versión en español, seleccione aquí.
Flexible, differentiated instruction—without the extra work
100k+
Classrooms
2M+
Students
Amplify ELA works the way teachers work. Fully integrated resources give teachers the flexibility to use each in whatever way is best for their classroom. Six levels of embedded differentiation and formative assessment keep students on track, so teachers spend less time managing logistics and more time teaching.
And only Amplify ELA offers the 100-Lesson Pathway, a built-in guide that covers all required grade-level content in 100 lessons, with room for supplemental lessons and activities teachers love.
Program overview
From engaging content and hands-on print materials to powerful differentiation tools and instructional guides, Amplify ELA gives teachers everything they need to meet middle school students where they are and move them forward.
Students read deeply.
With text always at the center, Amplify ELA challenges students to develop their own perspectives on complex, relevant readings (rather than searching for a single right answer).
In daily reading, students engage with ideas through annotation, discussion, and collaborative Quests, building the critical-thinking and communication skills that transfer across all subjects and grade levels.
Students write boldly.
Every lesson in Amplify ELA includes writing, with assignments that vary in purpose, audience, genre, and length, giving students consistent practice building the skills they need to communicate clearly and confidently across analytical, narrative, and creative modes.
Throughout the year, students develop their voices through evidence-based essays, arguments, research writing, speeches, and a dedicated Story Writing unit, concluding with performance tasks that ask them to demonstrate everything they’ve learned.
Six levels of differentiated support for every learner
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles are at the heart of Amplify ELA, because all students learn best when they develop and compare ideas around shared content. Amplify ELA ensures all students have access to the same text with six distinct levels of differentiation.
The six levels address the full range of student needs in any classroom:
- Substantial support for students who need the highest level of scaffolding
- Developing for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) at the developing proficiency level
- Expanding for ML/ELs at the expanding proficiency level
- Bridging for ML/ELs at the bridging proficiency level
- Core for students learning at grade level
- Challenge for advanced students who’d benefit from extension
Assessment that fits the flow of instruction
All units include a robust system of embedded assessment that provides teachers with actionable student performance data long before end-of-unit or benchmark exams.
Assessments are woven throughout the instructional sequence, including the following types:
- Formative assessments: Analytic Writing Prompts, Exit Tickets, and comprehension questions integrated into daily lessons
- Embedded Measure (EM): Tracks and weights student performance across daily assignments, giving teachers a continuous, real-time picture of student progress without a single interruption to instruction
- Summative assessments: End-of-unit reading assessments; essays; and performance tasks such as debates, fishbowl discussions, and multimedia presentations
- Interim Assessments: Recommended at the beginning and middle of the year to gather baseline data on reading and writing standards, available in both digital and print formats
What’s included
Amplify ELA gives teachers everything they need to deliver engaging, rigorous instruction, with resources designed to work together seamlessly in any classroom.
Teacher Editions
The Teacher Edition contains all the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Detailed lesson plans.
- Teacher tips embedded in each lesson.
- Standards alignment and Exit Tickets.
- Real-time differentiation strategies.
- Robust reporting.
Student Editions
The Student Edition guides middle schoolers through complex texts and writing activities, including:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts.
- Videos, audio supports, and purposeful digital experiences that invite meaningful engagement.
- Writing Prompts that connect to students’ personal Writing Journals.
Multimedia resources
The Amplify ELA digital platform gives teachers and students access to a full suite of multimedia resources that deepen engagement with the curriculum’s core texts, including:
- Embedded videos and audio support.
- Interactive digital apps that reinforce close reading skills.
- The Vocab App, which features adaptive activities built from words found in the lesson text.
- The Amplify Library, which offers over 700 titles to extend core reading.
Novels
Every grade level in Amplify ELA includes at least one full, physical novel as part of core instruction, so students always have a book in hand. Across grades 6–8, the core novel selection brings together a diverse range of classic and contemporary literature, exposing students to a wide variety of authors, genres, time periods, and perspectives.
Interactive Quests
Quests are immersive, week-long experiences that bring the texts students are reading to life. Each Quest builds on the literacy skills developed in the core units while shaking up classroom routines and letting students take the lead, driving engagement through collaborative and analytical reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities.
Writing Journals
Writing Journals give students a dedicated space to respond to Writing Prompts and complete written assignments throughout the year. With all of their writing in one place, students build a meaningful record of their growth as writers, and teachers gain a clear, ongoing view of student progress.
Impact of Amplify ELA
- Students make measurable gains in reading and writing, developing the critical thinking and communication skills they need for high school and beyond.
- Educators report increased confidence in delivering rigorous, knowledge-building instruction to all learners.
- Built-in differentiation and assessment tools ensure meaningful growth for diverse student populations, including multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) and students who need additional support.
Ready to continue your learning journey?
Amplify ELA offers targeted professional development (PD) sessions designed to optimize teaching strategies, enhance student engagement, and ensure effective curriculum delivery. Gain insights and techniques to make the most of your instructional time.
Why choose Amplify ELA
Choosing the right ELA curriculum for your district is one of the most important decisions you can make. Here is how Amplify ELA stands apart.
- Proven effectiveness
Meets ESSA Tier II criteria; transparent research shows consistent student growth across diverse populations. - Knowledge-building approach
Coherent, cumulative instruction built around a wide range of texts spanning science, social studies, history, and the arts that develops both knowledge and critical literacy skills. - Integrated reading and writing
Reading and writing are taught together in every lesson, with students writing in direct response to what they read to reinforce their knowledge and skills. - Differentiated support
Six levels of embedded differentiation ensure that every student, including ML/ELs, has access to the same grade-level texts and curriculum. - Blended print and digital
Fully integrated print and digital resources are designed to work together seamlessly in any classroom. - Instructional flexibility
The exclusive 100-Lesson Pathway provides teachers with a built-in guide to cover required content while leaving room for supplemental instruction.
Other programs
- Lack of evidence
Research support is often limited, unverified, or outdated, making it difficult to assess true impact on student achievement. - Fragmented content
Skills are taught in isolation without a connected knowledge-building sequence or with limited knowledge topics, resulting in more disengagement from students. - Disconnected reading and writing
Reading and writing are treated as separate subjects, limiting students’ ability to connect and apply skills across both. - Insufficient learner support
Limited built-in differentiation leaves ML/ELs and students with varied needs without consistent access to the same grade-level texts and content as their peers. - Restricted classroom options
predominantly digital and print-only programs both limit teachers’ ability to adapt instruction and make it harder to meet the varied needs of different classroom environments. - Rigid pacing
Pacing guides leave little or no room for review, making it difficult to address learning gaps, incorporate supplemental content, or respond to students’ evolving needs throughout the year.
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Support and resources
Frequently asked questions about Amplify ELA
Choosing the right middle school ELA curriculum is an important decision. These answers to frequently asked questions provide key information about Amplify ELA to help you understand how the program works and how it can support your literacy goals.
Amplify ELA is a knowledge-building English language arts curriculum for grades 6–8. Each grade includes six core units centered on literary or informational texts, delivered in various media. In addition to these main units, students engage with targeted grammar lessons, a dedicated Story Writing unit, and two or three immersive learning experiences called Quests. The program is available in both print and digital formats, giving teachers the flexibility to deliver instruction in any classroom environment.
Yes. Amplify ELA is a blended instructional model that can be used in classrooms with limited device access. Amplify ELA is a web-based, device-agnostic program, meaning it works across any device. The print Student Edition and Teacher Edition mirror the digital content, so teachers can decide when students use devices without compromising learning or standards coverage.
Text selections have been carefully curated to engage students in complex reading at each grade level. Lexile levels are included for each core text, and the program sequences them to create a staircase of steadily increasing complexity, as measured by quantitative and qualitative measures and task considerations. Amplify ELA lessons expose students to a diverse array of text types, genres, authors, and time periods, representing a wide range of student interests and perspectives to develop student curiosity while building skills and content knowledge.
Quests are not graded. These week-long narrative lesson plans build on the literacy skills students have been developing in traditional lessons, shake up classroom routines, and allow students to take the lead, driving engagement and enabling students to explore new ideas.
Access to all 700+ full-length titles in the Amplify Library is included in the student license. Students can also download texts from the library onto their devices and access them offline.
The program includes student-facing supports such as audio to accompany each reading activity, the Reveal Word tool within each core text that offers short contextual definitions for key vocabulary, and multilingual glossaries in 11 languages, each with critical vocabulary for each unit. Six levels of embedded differentiation (including dedicated Developing, Expanding, and Bridging levels for multilingual/English learners) ensure that every student can access the same grade-level texts and curriculum.
Amplify ELA’s grammar resources include a digital grammar unit and resources containing teaching and practice materials to support the grades 6–8 conventions standards. Teachers use Amplify’s Grammar Pacing Guide to determine how best to integrate these lessons into each grade, ensuring effective instruction aligned with standards. Amplify Flex Days, embedded in the core curriculum every 4–6 lessons, provide targeted grammar instruction and skills practice. Embedded Measure insights and end-of-lesson assessment (Exit Ticket) results are used to recommend student groupings for tailored reading, writing, and language support during Flex Days.
We provide custom quotes and implementation plans for schools and districts of all sizes. Connect with our team to find the right package for your needs. If you are already using Amplify ELA, our support team is here to help. Contact Sales or Customer Support.