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Google Classroom  - Creating Assignments and Materials

Google classroom  -, creating assignments and materials, google classroom creating assignments and materials.

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Google Classroom: Creating Assignments and Materials

Lesson 2: creating assignments and materials.

/en/google-classroom/getting-started-with-google-classroom/content/

Creating assignments and materials

Google Classroom gives you the ability to create and assign work for your students, all without having to print anything. Questions , essays , worksheets , and readings can all be distributed online and made easily available to your class. If you haven't created a class already, check out our Getting Started with Google Classroom lesson.

Watch the video below to learn more about creating assignments and materials in Google Classroom.

Creating an assignment

Whenever you want to create new assignments, questions, or material, you'll need to navigate to the Classwork tab.

clicking the Classwork tab

In this tab, you can create assignments and view all current and past assignments. To create an assignment, click the Create button, then select Assignment . You can also select Question if you'd like to pose a single question to your students, or Material if you simply want to post a reading, visual, or other supplementary material.

clicking the Assignment option in the Create menu

This will bring up the Assignment form. Google Classroom offers considerable flexibility and options when creating assignments.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to become familiar with the Assignment form.

assignment form interactive

This is where you'll type the title of the assignment you're creating.

Instructions

If you'd like to include instructions with your assignment, you can type them here.

Here, you can decide how many points an assignment is worth by typing the number in the form. You can also click the drop-down arrow to select Ungraded if you don't want to grade an assignment.

You can select a due date for an assignment by clicking this arrow and selecting a date from the calendar that appears. Students will have until then to submit their work.

In Google Classroom, you can sort your assignments and materials into topics. This menu allows you to select an existing topic or create a new one to place an assignment under.

Attachments

You can attach files from your computer , files from Google Drive , URLs , and YouTube videos to your assignments.

Google Classroom gives you the option of sending assignments to all students or a select number .

Once you're happy with the assignment you've created, click Assign . The drop-down menu also gives you the option to Schedule  an assignment if you'd like it to post it at a later date.

You can attach a rubric to help students know your expectations for the assignment and to give them feedback.

Once you've completed the form and clicked Assign , your students will receive an email notification letting them know about the assignment.

Google Classroom takes all of your assignments and automatically adds them to your Google Calendar. From the Classwork tab, you can click Google Calendar to pull this up and get a better overall view of the timeline for your assignments' due dates.

clicking Google Calendar

Using Google Docs with assignments

When creating an assignment, there may often be times when you want to attach a document from Google Docs. These can be helpful when providing lengthy instructions, study guides, and other material.

When attaching these types of files, you'll want to make sure to choose the correct setting for how your students can interact with it . After attaching one to an assignment, you'll find a drop-down menu with three options.

selecting the Students Can View File option

Let's take a look at when you might want to use each of these:

  • Students can view file : Use this option if the file is simply something you want your students to view but not make any changes to.
  • Students can edit file : This option can be helpful if you're providing a document you want your students to collaborate on or fill out collectively.
  • Make a copy for each student : If you're creating a worksheet or document that you want each student to complete individually, this option will create a separate copy of the same document for every student.

Using topics

On the Classwork tab, you can use  topics to sort and group your assignments and material. To create a topic, click the Create button, then select Topic .

clicking the Topic option in the Create menu

Topics can be helpful for organizing your content into the various units you teach throughout the year. You could also use it to separate your content by type , splitting it into homework, classwork, readings, and other topic areas.

showing a class with three topics

In our next lesson , we'll explore how to create quizzes and worksheets with Google Forms, further expanding how you can use Google Classroom with your students.

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How to schedule assignments or assign material

Environment.

  • Google Classroom

Add materials

  • Go to  Google Classsroom .
  • Click the class >  Classwork .
  • At the top, click  Create  >  Material .
  • Enter a title and a description.

Schedule materials

  • To schedule the same material across multiple classes, make sure to select all classes you want to include.
  • Next to  Post , click the Down arrow  Schedule .
  • When you enter a time, Classroom defaults to PM unless you specify AM.
  • (Optional) Select a topic for each class.
  • (Optional) To replicate your selected time and date for the first class into all subsequent classes, click  Copy settings to all . 
  • Click  Schedule . The material will automatically post at the scheduled date and time.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2024-04-27 UTC.

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Google Classroom: When to Use the Different Assignments & How to Assign Work

Samuel J Tan Classroom Technology , Learning , Popular , Technology , Tutorials , VLEs 0

Here is a guide to set the different assignments under the Classwork tab in Google Classroom. This brief tutorial shows the different options; assignment, quiz assignment, question and material, when and how to assign them.

Table of Contents

The object of this tutorial is to give you an overview of what you can achieve with the different assignments supported on Google Classroom. You will need to first head over to the Classwork tab, second after Stream on the top once you are inside your classroom. This tutorial assumes that you have created your first classroom. You can see how to start your own virtual classroom in under 2 minutes for help. We will cover the following:

  • create assignments and questions
  • use topics to organise classworks into modules or units
  • order work by dragging them up or down in Classwork page

Types of Assignment

There are four types of assignments you can create on Google Classroom. They are as follows:

  • Assignment (points awarded, good for final assignment with manual marking and use of Rubric)
  • Quiz assignment (points awarded, good for automatic marking and grading)
  • Question (no points awarded, good for single question quick survey, short answer, multiple choice)
  • Material (no points awarded, good for reading assignment or lesson preparations)

Apart from the above, you have the ability to reuse existing post and create topic header. The former lets you reuse posts you have published on Stream in this or other Classes. The latter is topic header you can add to organise the classwork by modules or units. Let’s start looking at each of these different classwork, when to use them and how to create them.

A. Assignment

Probably the most commonly used classwork is the assignment. Here you can pick one of the following top options when creating an assignment. Beyond filling in the title and instruction, choose to:

  • Add an existing resource: Google Drive , Link , File or YouTube
  • Create a new document: create a new Google Docs , Slides , Sheets , Drawings or Forms

The first option allows you to add a Google Drive, Link to web resources, upload or choose an online file to add to Classroom’s Google Drive. You can use this to assign work like “access the work files or resources in Google Drive”, “revise or research using this link”, “download, open and read the document attached” and “watch this video tutorial or recorded seminar”.

The second option lets you create online documents. This can be a word document, slide presentation file, spreadsheet, drawing or forms. There is no need to upload a document. Here is where your assignment is created and marked totally online. Use the option to assigning a copy to each student and marking them separately with in-line feedback, grade and comments.

As you can see Assignment covers a lot of grounds in terms of resources and online document format supported.

Step by Step Guide on How to Create an Assignment using Google Docs

Here is how to create an online assignment using Google Docs. [number correspond to image in gallery below]

  • Open your class
  • Click on the second tab, Classwork
  • Click “ + Create ” button and choose Assignment
  • In the pop up window, add Title and Instructions
  • Click “ + Create ” button and choose Docs [4]
  • A new tab will open to show the new Google Docs [5]
  • Change the title of the document by clicking on Untitled document (top left corner)
  • Enter the instruction for assignment into the body, look for  All changes saved in Drive  status in top bar then close tab and return to previous Assignment tab [5]
  • Don’t worry if the document still says Untitled document, next to this click drop down menu and choose Make a copy for each student . [6]
  • Complete the options in the right side bar (for course, all or select students, grade points, due date, topic and marking rubric (optional) then click Assign button. [7]

NOTE: You can also choose to Schedule the assignment, save or discard draft by clicking on the drop down arrow next to the Assign button.

You will then be returned to the Classwork page where you can see the assignment you have just created, click on it to open a summary card. [8]

B. Quiz Assignment

Based on Google Forms, the quiz is the other assignment you can create as classwork. This is great to gauge the students understanding of the subject. Like any questionnaire or form, you can use different field types when designing your form.

Step by Step Guide on How to Create an Quiz Assignment

  • Click “ + Create ” button and choose Quiz Assignment
  • A new pop-up window will appear, enter the Title and Instructions for this quiz
  • Click on the Blank Quiz link to open the Google Forms file. Click on the title Blank Quiz to change this and start editing the quiz by completing and adding more questions including answers and points for automatic marking.
  • Once you have completed your editing, look for All changes saved in Drive , close the tab and return to previous Assignment tab.
  • Complete the options in the right side bar (for course, all or select students, grade points, due date, topic and marking rubric (optional) then click Assign button.

You will then be returned to the Classwork page where you can see the assignment you have just created, click on it to open a summary card.

C. Question

The third type of assignment is Question. This is more of a simple single question survey with option to choose between a short answer or multiple choice answer. Nothing more beyond that. It is probably the quickest to set up and least complicated. This is useful to get quick answers from the group. Students can be allowed to see everyones answers and change their answer. No points can be awarded for this assignment.

Step by Step Guide on How to Create Question as Assignment

  • Click “ + Create ” button and choose Question
  • A new pop-up window will appear, enter the Question and Instructions for this question
  • Choose from drop down menu to select Short answer or Multiple choice .
  • Here you can also add resources or create online files in Google Drive.
  • Complete the options in the right side bar; class(es) the Question is for, assign to All or specific students, Points, Due date and Topic. Also choose if other students can reply to each other and edit their answer if Short answer is chosen. Or, choose if students can see class summary if Multiple choice is chosen.
  • Click the Ask button when ready.

D. Material

The last and final assignment is the Material. Here you can assign learning materials for students to study and prepare. As before, you can upload a resource or create online file as material. Like Questions assignment type, no points can be awarded for Material assignment type.

Step by Step Guide on How to Create Material as Assignment

  • Click “ + Create ” button and choose Material
  • In the pop-up window, complete Title and Description field
  • Choose to add a resource or + create online document
  • Then configure the assignment using right sidebar, pick to assign to All students or select individuals and pick the Topic this comes under.
  • When ready click the Post button.

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Technology integration blog for teachers

versus assignment or material

Assignment or Material in Google Classroom – What is the Difference?

A source of some confusion when developing a course in Google Classroom is whether to post an Assignment or Material. It is important to distinguish between these two options. Keep reading to understand the differences.

classwork tab google

In Google Classroom , on the Classwork tab, teachers can schedule posts. These can contain instructions and resources for students participating in the class. There are several choices including Assignment, Quiz assignment, Question, and Material.

material or assignment

Types of Google Classroom Posts

  • Assignment: An assignment is a post that requires students to submit work upon completion. You can allocate points to the task or mark it as ungraded. For each person in the class, there is the option to assess the final submission and record the grade and/comments. Assignments are ideal for tracking and evaluating student progress.
  • Quiz assignmen t: A quiz assignment ask a series of questions in Google Forms. You can assign points to each question and set the correct answer to automatically grade responses. Create this type of post to construct a test that assesses students’ knowledge of a topic.
  • Question: Question is a post that asks either a short answer or multiple choice. You can assign points or leave it ungraded. A response does not automatically grade itself. This means, if your intention is to score the answer, the mark must be manually assigned. This option is best used for a quick review to gauge students’ understanding of a concept or to conduct a poll.
  • Material: Material is a post that includes general information about the class or topic of study. This might include a course syllabus, reference sheet, or welcome message. The students read or view the file, web page, or video. Points cannot be assigned, nor can student activity be tracked.

Assignment or Material – Which is the Correct Choice?

To understand whether to pick Assignment or Material ask yourself this question… Do I need to track or grade the task? If yes, then you need to create an Assignment . However, if you only need to share information, then select Material .

Do I need to track or grade the task? If yes, CREATE AN ASSIGNMENT.

An illustration of what is happening in Google Classroom will make the distinction between an Assignment or Material clearer. Refer to the image below. It shows the Grades tab in Google Classroom. The Grades tab is an electronic grading book that organizes Assignments into a table that allows teachers to:

  • automatically calculate class average on an assignment
  • open a student’s submitted assignment
  • record student grade
  • identify students whose assignments have not been turned in

IMPORTANT: Material does not show up on the Grades tab.

grade assignment

Assignment Versus Material Features

If you are still uncertain about whether to select Assignment or Material when creating a post consider the features you have available for each choice:

OPTIONSMaterialAssignment
Create a post with a title and instructions.XX
Attach a file, website link, or video.XX
Create a Google apps file to communicate information.XX
Organize post by topic.XX
Select the class or student(s) that can view the post.XX
Set the permissions of an attachment to either view or edit.X
Generate a unique copy of a file for each student to complete.X
Students can create a new Google apps file that connects to the post.X
Students can turn in work.X
Assignments can be graded and tracked from the Grades tab.X

An Example from TechnoEarth

Are you still unsure about whether to pick Assignment or Material? Here is a real world example…

TechnoEarth is a TechnoKids technology project that uses Google Apps to design an interactive infographic. If you were teaching using these instructional materials as a curriculum unit below are some of the resources. Each is labelled as either an Assignment or Material. Use this example to make connections to your own curriculum units:

  • Acid Rain Fact Sheet : Material – This is a resource that summarizes facts about acid rain. It is an information sheet in PDF format that can be attached to a Material post. It may assist students with research.
  • Research Outline : Assignment – This is a resource that is a template for organizing facts about an environmental topic. Every student needs their own copy. For this reason, it should be attached to an Assignment post.
  • Assignment Worksheets 1-18 : Assignment – These are worksheets with instructions on how to complete the task of building an infographic. Some worksheets include questions that students must answer, which means every student needs their own copy. Alternatively, some worksheets require students to submit work for grading. For these reasons, TechnoKids worksheets should be attached to Assignment posts.
  • Coral Bleaching Infographic: Assignment – This is an example of a completed infographic – it does convey information. However, this file accompanies a worksheet with questions about the content. Since it is an additional resource that is required to complete a task, it is attached to an Assignment post.
  • TechnoEarth Skill Summary: Material – This is a resource that summarizes technology skills. It can provide students with a thorough understanding of what they will learn throughout the curriculum unit. It can be attached to a Material post to provide students with additional information.

TechnoEarth icon

Need Help Creating a Google Classroom Assignment?

Still feeling unprepared? If you want some help getting started with using Google Classroom refer to Create Assignments with TechnoKids Files . Although this support page uses TechnoKids resources in the screenshots, the how-to steps are transferrable to any Google Classroom assignment you plan to post. If you still have questions about Google Classroom assignments refer to the blog post, A Simple Trick to Creating a Google Classroom Assignment .

TeachThought

How To Add Materials To An Assignment In Google Classroom

Adding Materials To An Assignment In Google Classroom by TeachThought Staff Adding materials to assignments in Google Classroom is simple–basically navigating to the Assignments page, clicking the paperclip icon, then choosing the source of the file from the dropdown menu. For slightly more delineated step-by-step instructions on how to add materials to an assignment in…

change material to assignment in google classroom

Adding Materials To An Assignment In Google Classroom

by TeachThought Staff

Adding materials to assignments in Google Classroom is simple–basically navigating to the Assignments page, clicking the paperclip icon, then choosing the source of the file from the dropdown menu.

For slightly more delineated step-by-step instructions on how to add materials to an assignment in Google Classroom, see below—and check out our collection of our best Google teaching and learning tools .

The screenshots in this post are from the iPad version of Google Classroom but the process from a laptop or desktop is similar/unchanged.

Note, you can add Drive files, links, images, or photos to your assignment.

1. Navigate to the ‘Classwork’ stream/page.

Attach

  • Students can edit file —Students can make changes to the file.
  • Students can view file —Students can read the file, but not change it.
  • Make a copy for each student —Students receive an individual copy of the file that they can change.
  • Delete —Remove the attachment.

Link

  • To attach a photo, tap  Pick photo  and choose your photo. Or, tap  Use camera  and take a photo.

Remove

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Easily distribute, analyze, and grade student work with assignments for your lms.

Assignments is an application for your learning management system (LMS). It helps educators save time grading and guides students to turn in their best work with originality reports — all through the collaborative power of Google Workspace for Education.

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Bring your favorite tools together within your LMS

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Built with the latest Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards for robust security and easy installation in your LMS

Save time distributing and grading classwork

Distribute personalized copies of Google Drive templates and worksheets to students

Grade consistently and transparently with rubrics integrated into student work

Add rich feedback faster using the customizable comment bank

Examine student work to ensure authenticity

Compare student work against hundreds of billions of web pages and over 40 million books with originality reports

Make student-to-student comparisons on your domain-owned repository of past submissions when you sign up for the Teaching and Learning Upgrade or Google Workspace for Education Plus

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“Assignments enable faculty to save time on the mundane parts of grading and...spend more time on providing more personalized and relevant feedback to students.” Benjamin Hommerding , Technology Innovationist, St. Norbert College

change material to assignment in google classroom

Classroom users get the best of Assignments built-in

Find all of the same features of Assignments in your existing Classroom environment

  • Learn more about Classroom

Explore resources to get up and running

Discover helpful resources to get up to speed on using Assignments and find answers to commonly asked questions.

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Get a quick overview of Assignments to help Educators learn how they can use it in their classrooms.

  • Download overview

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Get started guide

Start using Assignments in your courses with this step-by-step guide for instructors.

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change material to assignment in google classroom

Teacher Center Assignments resources

Find educator tools and resources to get started with Assignments.

  • Visit Teacher Center

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How to use Assignments within your LMS

Watch this brief video on how Educators can use Assignments.

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Turn on Assignments in your LMS

Contact your institution’s administrator to turn on Assignments within your LMS.

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IMAGES

  1. How To Create An Assignment In Google Classroom

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  2. Assignment or Material in Google Classroom

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  3. Assignment Slides Google Classroom [Video]

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  4. Google Classroom Assignments Copy for Each Student

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  5. How to Turn-in Assignments on Google Classroom 2020 (3 Different Ways Shown)

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  6. Creating An Assignment in Google Classroom

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  1. Projecting Target the Question Plus Assignment- Google Classroom

  2. Submitting assignments in Google Classroom

  3. How to Submit an Assignment

  4. Teachers

  5. Week 07 Google Cloud Computing Foundations!!

  6. How to Delete an Assignment in Google Classroom

COMMENTS

  1. I want to switch an assignment to a material in my google ...

    This help content & information General Help Center experience. Search. Clear search

  2. Google Classroom: Creating Assignments and Materials

    Whenever you want to create new assignments, questions, or material, you'll need to navigate to the Classwork tab. In this tab, you can create assignments and view all current and past assignments. To create an assignment, click the Create button, then select Assignment.

  3. Can I change material into regular Classwork? - Google ...

    This help content & information General Help Center experience. Search. Clear search

  4. How to schedule assignments or assign material | Google ...

    Solution. Add materials. Go to Google Classsroom. Click the class > Classwork. At the top, click Create > Material. Enter a title and a description. Schedule materials. Follow the steps above...

  5. Google Classroom: When to Use the Different Assignments & How ...

    Here is a guide to set the different assignments under the Classwork tab in Google Classroom. This brief tutorial shows the different options; assignment, quiz assignment, question and material, when and how to assign them.

  6. Assignment or Material in Google Classroom – What is the ...

    A source of some confusion when developing a course in Google Classroom is whether to post an Assignment or Material. It is important to distinguish between these two options. Keep reading to understand the differences.

  7. How To Add Materials To An Assignment In Google Classroom

    Adding materials to assignments in Google Classroom is simple–basically navigating to the Assignments page, clicking the paperclip icon, then choosing the source of the file from the dropdown menu.

  8. 5 easy strategies to organize your Google Classroom

    Thankfully, Google Classroom has a feature that helps you keep your classwork page neat and tidy and orderly — topics! Some of the basics to know about topics: Topics are like headings for your assignments, questions and materials. Add a topic with the “Create” button on the classwork page.

  9. How can I change an assignment to a material ... - Google Help

    This help content & information General Help Center experience. Search. Clear search

  10. Get Started with Assignments - Google for Education

    Turn on Assignments in your LMS. Contact your institution’s administrator to turn on Assignments within your LMS. Explore Assignments, an app for educators designed to distribute, analyze,...