Assignments 101

The Assignment tool within Google Classroom allows you to give your students actionable tasks.

From the Classwork tab, you can assign work with many different interactive features, then track student progress on that work.

Assignments can be graded and returned to students with valuable written feedback.

The BASICS

To create a new Assignment, head to the Classwork tab and click the Create button. Select Assignment from the drop-down list.

Assignments allow for the most customization of all the elements added to your Google Classroom stream.

The structure of an Assignment is pretty simple.

Firstly, decide who should be able to see your Assignment. You can select multiple classes at once using the FOR drop-down, or assign the work to specific students by changing the ALL STUDENTS drop-down. You can set a DUE DATE and time, and designate a TOPIC for the assignment as well, which helps you keep things sorted on your Classwork page.

The real power of the Assignment tool is in...

Attaching resources to your assignments

The power of Assignments in Classroom is being able to distribute class materials quickly and easily. You can CREATE documents from directly within a new Assignment, or you can ADD files from multiple sources for your students to access.

While the types of files you can attach to your Assignment don't differ from those you can attach to an Announcement, you get many more options for working with these files.

ATTACH A FILE FROM DRIVE

You can add any file stored in your Google Drive to an Assignment in Google Classroom. This includes Forms & PDFs.

ATTACH A FILE FROM YOUR COMPUTER

You can add any file stored on your computer to an Assignment in Google Classroom.

ATTACH A YOUTUBE VIDEO

You can attach a YouTube video to an Assignment, either by searching for one, or by copying and pasting the URL to the video you'd like to share.

ADD A LINK TO ANY WEBSITE

There is so much content that is useful to the classroom available online, and any of that content can be added to your Assignment by simply copying and pasting a URL.

Attach a file from Google Drive

Any file created within Google Drive can be attached to an Assignment in Google Classroom. This means you can:

Create a graphic organizer in Google Drawing and attach it to your Assignment.
Develop a set of guided/interactive notes in Google Docs for a YouTube video attached to your Assignment.
Design a quiz or survey with Google Forms and attach it to your Assignment.

HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO INTERACT WITH YOUR FILE?

When you've selected the file from Google Drive that you'd like to attach, you are presented with three different ways that you can share that file with students in your course:

Students can view file allows students to only look at a file, not edit it. Use this to share reference materials that require no interaction on the student side.
Students can edit file gives all members of the course the right to edit the same document at the same time. This is great for creating class presentations, with each student able to edit one slide within the same presentation.
Make a copy for each student creates a copy of the file attached for each student and delivers it to their Google Drive. This is very powerful, and great for distributing templates and homework.

tracking student progress on assignments

Once you click Post on your Assignment, and it jumps to the top of your Stream, the students can get to work completing it. On your end, you'll be able to keep track of how many of your students have completed the Assignment, give feedback to students as they work, and grade the assignments upon their completion.

Done/Not Done

Your standard view allows you to see an overview of how many of your students finished the Assignment so far.

Clicking on either the Done or Not Done counts brings you to an expanded view that allows you to track the progress of specific students on your Assignment.

The Student Work view provides an at-a-glance look at whose work is done, and who still has some work to do.

Each student thumbnail provides a preview of the work the student has completed. Click the thumbnail to view a students work, even if it is still in progress.

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