English Language Arts occupies a complicated place when it comes to AI. The subject is built on reading, writing, and discussion, and AI happens to be very good at processing language and generating text. That means these tools can be genuinely useful in an ELA classroom, but it also means the risks are real. A student who outsources their writing to AI misses the very cognitive work the course is designed to develop.
The good news: the tools available today go well beyond generic chatbots. You’ll find platforms that provide instant writing feedback, adapt reading difficulty on the fly, assess fluency through speech recognition, support close reading and literature analysis, and generate differentiated lesson materials in minutes. The best of them work with you, handling the time-consuming parts of the job so you can focus on the teaching that requires a human presence.
I was an ELA for over 8 years and I know exactly what ELA teachers deal with. In this guide, I provide you what I think are some of the best AI tools that hopefully will add value to your teaching and eventually enhance your students learning.
Please note that I am not affiliated with any tool, framework, or platform mentioned here and its inclusion in this guide does not necessarily mean endorsement!
AI Tools for English Language Arts Teachers
I arranged the AI tools into various categories so you can easily find what you are looking for.
Writing Feedback and Support
1. Khan Academy Writing Coach
Khan Academy Writing Coach is free for U.S. teachers. It guides students through the entire writing process, from outline to final draft, without writing content for them. It provides feedback at each stage and tracks student progress in real time so you can see who needs help. The Socratic approach nudges students toward stronger writing without doing the work for them.
2. Grammarly for Education
Grammarly for Education provides AI-powered feedback on grammar, tone, clarity, and style. It includes plagiarism detection and citation assistance in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats. Schools can control whether students access the generative AI features. Free version available; premium adds advanced tools.
3. Quill.org
Quill.org is a free nonprofit platform built specifically for ELA classrooms. It provides immediate, targeted feedback on student writing and reading comprehension activities. Teachers report it saves hundreds of hours yearly and produces measurable improvement in student writing quality.
4. EssayGrader
EssayGrader imports student essays from Google Classroom, Canvas, or Schoology and grades them against your rubrics. It provides detailed, consistent feedback for entire classes in minutes. The free plan covers up to 100 essays per month. Teachers report close alignment with their own grading.
5. Flint
Flint provides inline writing feedback based on teacher-configured rubrics and guardrails. You set the boundaries for what AI can and can’t do, which prevents the tool from writing for students. Strong for teachers who want control over how AI interacts with student work.
Related: AI Tools for Science Teachers: Labs, Simulations, and More
Reading Comprehension and Fluency
6. Amira Learning
Amira Learning is an AI reading tutor that listens to every student read aloud, analyzes each word, and diagnoses foundational reading skills in under 20 minutes. Research shows significantly faster reading growth with regular weekly use. Used by over 4 million students worldwide. Subscription-based.
7. ReadTheory
ReadTheory delivers personalized reading passages that automatically adjust difficulty based on student performance. True differentiation through real-time level matching. K-12. Subscription model.
8. Microsoft Reading Coach
Microsoft Reading Coach is a free AI reading practice tool that detects challenging words, offers targeted practice, and provides personalized feedback. Now available in 81 languages. Integrated with Microsoft education tools and accessible to any school using Microsoft products.
Differentiated Reading and Text Adaptation
9. Diffit
Diffit converts any text to any reading level from 2nd grade through 11th+. It automatically generates vocabulary lists and comprehension questions from adapted texts. Translates to 50+ languages. Works with YouTube video transcripts. One of the fastest text adaptation tools available.
10. Brisk Teaching
Brisk Teaching is a free Chrome extension that works inside Google Docs and Slides. It converts any online content to different reading levels and generates quizzes, guided notes, and lesson plans from any web article, PDF, or YouTube video. Seamless workflow integration for teachers already in Google Workspace.
Literature Analysis and Close Reading
11. Hypothesis
Hypothesis is an online annotation tool that lets students and teachers highlight and comment directly on web articles and texts. It supports collaborative close reading with public and private annotation options. Integrates with LMS platforms. Free with optional premium features.
12. LitCharts
LitCharts provides side-by-side original Shakespearean text and modern English translation. Each scene includes summaries, character analysis, themes, and key quotes. Many teachers use it to help students access complex language without losing the original phrasing. It works well for ELL learners and struggling readers who need support while still engaging with authentic text. A free version is available, with additional features in the paid plan.
Assessment and Quiz Generation
13. Conker AI
Conker AI is an AI quiz builder that creates assessments by subject, grade level, topic, and difficulty. It includes a “Read and Respond” format specifically for reading comprehension. Exports to Google Forms and Canvas. Quiz creation takes under 5 minutes. Free and premium options.
14. Curipod
Curipod is an interactive lesson platform with AI-powered slide generation, polls, word clouds, drawings, and constructed-response activities. The AI provides feedback on student responses during class. K-12. Documented improvements in test scores at schools using it regularly.
Grammar and Language Mechanics
15. QuillBot
QuillBot offers a paraphraser, summarizer, grammar checker, and citation generator in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. The paraphrasing tool also helps struggling readers understand complex texts by rewording them. Browser extension works across platforms. Free version with limited features; premium available.
16. Hemingway Editor
Hemingway Editor focuses specifically on clarity and conciseness, highlighting complex sentences, passive voice, and wordiness. It helps students write more directly. A simple, visual tool that makes revision feel concrete and approachable.
Lesson Planning and Content Creation
17. MagicSchool
MagicSchool includes 80+ AI tools with generators for lesson plans, rubrics, assessments, and text leveling. The Text Leveler rewrites any passage at a different grade level. Available in 30 languages. Free tier with limited features; $8.33/month for unlimited access. One of the biggest time-savers teachers mention online.
18. Eduaide
Eduaide was built by two public school teachers. Over 100 resource types including lesson plans, worksheets, graphic organizers, gamified activities like Jeopardy and escape rooms, and vocabulary generators. Free tier allows 15 generations per month; $5.99/month for unlimited.
Related: Top AI Feedback Tools for Teachers
Accessibility and ELL Support
Speechify
Speechify converts text into natural-sounding audio in 70+ languages. Used by over 1 million people, including students with reading disabilities. A helpful tool for creating audio versions of classroom texts. Free version available.
NaturalReader
NaturalReader is a text-to-speech tool that converts PDFs, Google Docs, webpages, and even scanned images into clear, natural audio. It supports multiple languages and voices, which makes it useful for multilingual classrooms. Teachers often use it to create audio versions of assignments or to help ELL students listen while following along with the text. A free version is available, with additional voices and features in the paid plans.
Microsoft Immersive Reader
Microsoft Immersive Reader is a free tool built into apps like Word, OneNote, and Microsoft Edge. It reads text aloud, adjusts font size and spacing, changes background colors, and breaks words into syllables. It also includes a picture dictionary and translation features. Many teachers use it to support ELL learners and students with dyslexia, especially during independent reading or online research tasks.
Tips for Getting Started
These tips come from ELA teachers who have tested these tools in real classrooms and shared what they learned.
| 1. Use the hybrid feedback model. Let AI handle grammar, mechanics, and sentence-level clarity. Invest your feedback time in argument structure, voice, creativity, and logical organization. Teachers who’ve tried this approach say they’ll never go back. The combination produces stronger student revisions than either source alone. |
| 2. Skip the AI detection tools. Research consistently shows they’re unreliable, and false accusations damage student-teacher trust. Talk directly with students about AI use and create clear classroom policies together. Design assignments that require personal experience, in-class drafting, or process evidence like outlines and reflection notes. |
| 3. Start with the free options. Quill.org, Brisk Teaching, Khan Academy Writing Coach (U.S. teachers), Microsoft Reading Coach, and Hemingway Editor all cost nothing. Get comfortable with those before committing to paid platforms. |
| 4. Teach students to use AI as a revision partner. Students write first. Then they use AI to identify weaknesses and get suggestions. The thinking must come from the student. Frame AI as a coach, not a ghostwriter, and make that expectation explicit from day one. |
| 5. Be specific about what’s allowed. “Using AI to brainstorm topic ideas” is very different from “using AI to write an essay.” Students need clear lines, not vague warnings. Spell out which uses count as learning and which cross into academic dishonesty. |
| 6. Use text-leveling tools for whole-class discussions. Tools like Diffit and Brisk Teaching let you create multiple reading levels of the same article. Every student discusses the same content at an appropriate difficulty, which keeps the class conversation unified. |
| 7. Build in AI-free writing time. Students who rely on AI for every revision may never develop the ability to evaluate their own work. Regular sessions where students revise using rubrics and peer feedback, without AI, build self-assessment skills that will serve them long after your class ends. |
| 8. Verify AI-generated content before sharing. Grammar tools are generally reliable, but AI literary analysis, historical context, and factual claims all need your review. AI sounds confident even when wrong, and ELA content is no exception. |
| 9. Use AI-generated lesson plans as starting points. They tend toward generic, formulaic results. Your knowledge of your students, your school culture, and your instructional goals is what turns a decent plan into a great one. Let AI do the first draft, and then make it yours. |
| 10. Join the teacher communities. r/ELATeachers on Reddit and the #ELAchat community on X share tool reviews, creative lesson ideas, and practical workflows. Teachers in these spaces are candid about what works and what doesn’t. |
Best AI Tools for English Language Arts is also available in PDF format!
Conclusion
AI tools for ELA have reached a point where they can genuinely lighten your workload and open up new possibilities in your classroom. The writing feedback tools compress revision cycles from weeks to days. The reading tools differentiate materials instantly and give struggling readers the extra support they need. The planning tools handle the administrative side of the job so you can invest your energy where it matters most.
And yet, writing is thinking. Reading is meaning-making. Discussion is relationship-building. AI can support all of these, but it can’t replace the human experience at their core. These tools are at their most useful when they handle the routine work, so you can focus on the parts of teaching that require a human mind and a human heart.
