Viewing Prompts

1.   To access available prompts, click the Writing tab. The Prompts Library page displays a list of prepackaged prompts. These prompts are labeled with the letter “P.” You'll also see any prompts that you have created (T) as well as prompts created by your school (S) or district (D). 

• You can filter the prompts by status, type, genre, and content area or search by keyword.

2.   To enable or disable a prompt for student responses, click the prompt title to display prompt information. Click Enable or Disable.

• A prompt that is enabled will have a green check mark in the Enabled column. Once enabled, the prompt will be available for students to select on their Writing page.

• You can also view a Course Prompt Settings Summary. This area allows you to view the prompt settings for the Assignment, Organizer, Peer Review, and customizable Options. 

Customizing a Prompt

1.   To edit an existing prompt, click on the pencil icon beside the prompt

The Edit a Prompt page will appear. Navigate through the steps to customize the prompt as desired. Each step is optional.

• Step 1: Prompt shows the title of the prompt as well as a description, genre, status, and any stimulus material.

• Step 2: Assignment
  • To assign a prompt, click in the Assign To box to display a list of your students for the course. Choose individual students or click Select All to assign to your entire class. 
  • Turn on Enable Due Date to view options.
  • Turn on Enforce Due Date to prevent students from submitting essays after the Due Date you have set. 
  • Set reminders to notify students of upcoming due dates.

• Step 3: Organizer 
  • Turn on the Require Organizer button to allow your students to choose from among the system-suggested graphic organizers or you can choose a specific organizer from the Select Organizer drop-down menu.

• Step 4: Peer Reviews 
  • Turn on Enable Peer Review to allow the students in your course to request and review each other's essays. 
  • Turn on Anonymous Author and/or Anonymous Reviewers to hide the identity of the author and reviewer. 
  • Turn on Sentence Starters to enable students to receive helpful phrases for leaving constructive and specific feedback during the review process. 

• Choose the peer review questions for this essay. Two questions will always appear on the peer review form and you can choose up to six additional questions. You can also add custom review questions.

• Step 5: Options
  • Timer allows you to set a timer for 30 to 60 minutes. The timer will be displayed when students are writing.
  • Resubmit Essays allows you to limit the number of revisions that a student can submit.
  • Finalize Essay allows students to mark an essay as their final draft after a specific number of drafts has been submitted.
  • Hide Score allows you to hide the automated score until a specific number of drafts has been submitted.
  • Grammar and Spelling allows you to hide automated grammar and spelling feedback until a specific number of drafts has been submitted.
  • Essay Title allows you to require students to title their essay before submitting their essay.
  • Cited Sources allows you to require students to cite their sources before submitting their essay.
  • Specialized Vocabulary allows you to add uncommon technical, or content-related words that may be marked as misspelled.
  • Copy and Paste allows you to keep students from copying and pasting from outside sources.

• Step 5: Share Prompt
  • If you teach multiple courses, you can make your customized prompt available in other courses by clicking on the box beside the appropriate course(s).
  • To share your customized prompt with other teachers in your grade level, activate the button beside Share to School. Then click in the Notify Teachers box to choose a teacher or Select All. 

2.  Click Save Prompt and the custom options you've chosen will be saved with the prompt.