NoRedInk's Skill Building Modules are a collection of assignable NoRedInk activities that address a particular writing or grammar skill. They enable teachers to provide students with varying targeted content easily. Modules can include several different NoRedInk assignment types, such as:
- Practices
- Quick Writes, Guided Essays, and Short Responses
- Quizzes
- Passage Quizzes
Our modules cover the same skill areas currently addressed by pathway topics, but in a more focused way and with an added emphasis on application!
Accessing Skill Building Modules
To access one of our Skill Building Modules, you can follow these steps:
- Select Browse & Assign at the top of your teacher dashboard to open the Assignment Library.
- Select Skill Building.
- On the next page, you'll be able to browse all of our available skills or choose a particular category you'd like students to focus on. You can also view these categories on the left-hand sidebar on the next page if you change your mind!
- Select the module you'd like to assign to open it.
Understanding and using modules
Each module has a learning objective, which is shown on the page. All the different assignment types in the Skill Building Module are hand-picked to provide targeted instruction to help students achieve mastery of the stated learning objective.
A module might also recommend prerequisite skills to take into account before assigning any activities. These will be shown alongside the module's learning objective. A module is structured around three to four sequential instructional phases:
- Teach
- Practice
- Apply & Assess
- Extend
Assigning and sharing activities in modules
You can assign or share any of the activities shown in a Skill Building Module!
Share a tutorial
Select the Share icon next to the tutorial name. This will reveal a shareable link to give to students.
You can also preview the tutorial to show a class or small group synchronously by selecting the footprint icon.
Assign a Practice topic
Under the Practice box, select the checkbox by the topic(s) you’d like your students to complete. Assign Practice and the arrow button at the bottom of the page to finalize the assignment.
💡 We recommend having students complete Scaffolding Practice topics before a Core Practice topic!
Assign a writing assignment
To encourage the application of the skill practiced, you can give your students a Quick Write, Guided Essay, or Guided Short Response assignment. Select the Assign arrow next to any of the available pre-made prompts.
These are pre-made to save you time, but you are still able to customize the prompt as needed!
Assign a Quiz or Passage Quiz
You can also choose to give students a Quiz or Passage Quiz by selecting the Assign arrow next to the assignment.
This will open the Quiz or Passage assignment form to fill in assignment details.
Assigning an Extension
Some Skill Building Modules include activities for extension. These can be further Practice topics or writing activities, such as Guided Essays or Guided Short Responses.
Use these activities for students who demonstrate a strong understanding of the learning objective!
Viewing Student Data
Activities assigned from a Skill Building Module will appear on the My Assignments page. You can view student performance by selecting the Practice topic, writing assignments, and the Quizzes/Passages assigned. When a student completes an activity assigned from a Skill Building Module, their performance is tracked in the current Grades and Mastery reports.
- Module assignment grades appear in the Grades report of your grade book.
- Progress made toward mastery of a given topic will be reflected in the Mastery report of your grade book.
Both Skill Building Module-assigned and pathway-assigned activities contribute to these two reports.
❗ There currently isn't a module-specific report that might convey performance on a particular module.