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Strategies for using interactive tutorials

What are interactive tutorials?

NoRedInk’s tutorials are interactive mini-lessons that break writing and grammar concepts down into manageable chunks. Each tutorial walks students through the most important points they need to know about a topic, then gives them one or two practice questions to check their understanding.

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These interactive mini-lessons include:

You can find writing and grammar tutorials in the Assignment Library (click "Browse & Assign") where they serve as introductory activities to many topics (look for the footprints_icon.png icon). You’ll also find tutorials in our Guided Drafts assignments, where they prepare students to produce strong writing in different genres.

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There are around 100 tutorials on the site. In this article, we’ve gathered links to all of our tutorials together in one place so that you can share them with your students!

Leveraging interactive tutorials for distance learning

Because tutorials break concepts down and focus on the most important information students need to know, they are a great tool for pre-teaching and reviewing grammar and writing skills. Students can read the explanations and examples at their own pace and move on to the next section of the tutorial when they’re ready.

Here are some best practices for using tutorials with your students while they learn at home:

  • Use tutorials as a primer on essay-writing skills. Before you assign students an essay, have them go through an essay-writing tutorial to remind them of the most important elements of strong writing in the genre. For example, if your students will be writing a narrative essay, you can assign the narrative essay tutorial as a mini-lesson on story structure. (If you’re looking to give students support as they draft full essays at home, try using Guided Drafts!)
  • Help students review grammar skills with tutorials. After your students submit an essay or Quick Write, look for common errors or misconceptions in their writing. To give students a quick refresher on a skill, share a link to a relevant tutorial and ask students to correct their own writing afterwards. For example, if you notice your students having trouble forming possessives with plural nouns, our tutorial can remind them of the rules. If you think students need more support with a skill, try assigning a practice topic to give them more extensive practice.
  • Use tutorials to kick off the revision process. After your students write a paragraph, send them a tutorial to help them check that their paragraphs include all the essential elements. For instance, if your students have just written a body paragraph for an argumentative essay, have them review the argumentative body paragraph tutorial before revising their paragraph.
  • Ask students to record what they’ve learned. Encourage students to take notes as they go through a tutorial and share their takeaways. To check students’ understanding, try assigning a Quick Write asking students to explain the concept in their own words (click here for an assignment you can use). This will give you an opportunity to address any misunderstandings and support students from a distance.
  • Help students put theory into practice. Tutorials are most effective when combined with a writing assignment or NoRedInk topic that allows students to try out what they’ve just learned. Assign a follow-up activity to help students consolidate their knowledge.

Most popular interactive tutorials

Not sure where to start? Here are some of our most popular tutorials:

Video tutorials

A selection of our elementary tutorials include animated videos to introduce students to a topic:

Quick links to all interactive tutorials

You can browse our full collection of tutorials by topic below. Click on any link to preview a tutorial; you will see exactly what your students will see. To share a tutorial with your students, copy the link of the tutorial and paste it wherever you share work for students.

Tutorials for Grades 6-12

Writing Skills

All Writing Tutorials

Writing Essays

Writing Introductions

Writing Body Paragraphs

Writing Conclusions

Writing Counterarguments

Formal and Informal Language

Transitions

Writing Essays in Different Genres

Introductions

Body Paragraphs

Topic Sentences

Evidence

Body Paragraphs in Different Genres

Conclusions

Counterarguments

Formal and Informal Language

Transitions

 

Grammar Skills

All Grammar Tutorials

Adjectives and Adverbs

Articles

Nouns and Pronouns

Verbs

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Commonly Confused Words

Sentences, Phrases, and Clauses

Punctuation

Capitalization and Formatting

Parts of Speech

Adjectives and Adverbs

Articles

Nouns and Pronouns

Verbs

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Commonly Confused Words

Sentences, Phrases, and Clauses

Punctuation

Capitalization and Formatting

 

Tutorials for Grades 3-5

All 3-5 Tutorials

Parts of Speech

Commonly Confused Words

Sentences, Phrases, and Clauses

Capitalization and Punctuation

Writing

Parts of Speech

Commonly Confused Words

Sentences, Phrases, and Clauses

Capitalization and Punctuation

Writing

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