How do I create classes?

To create a class, click on My Classes > Manage Classes in the navigation bar. There, you will see a Create a Class button. Click the button and choose to create a new class manually (which students will join using a class code), or import one or more classes and students from Google Classroom.

You will then be asked to fill out information about your new class, including a class name, grade level, and subject area.

Read more step-by-step instructions below:

You must be associated with at least one school in order to create classes. If you selected "District/Multiple Schools" as your school type during sign-up, go to your My Account page and add your school(s) to your profile.

There are 5 ways to create classes:

Manually Create Classes and Add Students

  1. Go to your Manage Classes page.
  2. Click Create a Class.
  3. Choose to create your class Manually. Name your class and select its grade(s) and subject area(s). NOTE: If you are in multiple schools, ensure your class is in the correct school. Click Create Class.
  4. Now you will see your class listed under your school on your Manage Classes Page. Click Add Students.
  5. Instruct your students to go to www.commonlit.org/en/enroll and enter your class code. Note: If students have an existing CommonLit account, they should log in to their existing account and go to their My Account & Classes page. From there, they should select "Add class code" or "Add another class code" and enter your class code. 
  6. If you want to control your students' usernames and passwords yourself, you can create their accounts for them one at a time by logging out of your teacher account and following step 5.

Feel free to share the CommonLit Quick Start Guide For Students with your students along with your class code!

Import Classes and Students with Google Classroom

  1. Go to your Manage Classes page.
  2. Click Create a Class.
  3. Click the Import from Google Classroom button.
  4. Select the Google account associated with your Google Classroom classes.
  5. Select the class(es) you would like to import. 
  6. Select the grade(s) and subject area(s) for each class. When you've done this for each of your classes, click IMPORT.
  7. CommonLit will import your classes and your students. Please wait up to one minute for your students' accounts to import. After a minute, refresh the page to see your students. 
  8. Instruct your students to log in to their CommonLit accounts by clicking the "Log in with Google" option on the CommonLit login page.
  9. NOTE: Did a new student join your Google Classroom roster after your initial import? Just click the green Sync button to sync your Google Classroom and CommonLit rosters to add this new student to your class.

Import Classes and Students with Clever

  1. If your school has elected to share its data with CommonLit via Clever, you can log into CommonLit through Clever, link your Clever account to your CommonLit account, and import your Clever sections as classes. 
  2. If you do not see CommonLit in your Clever dashboard, reach out to your Clever school/district admin to verify that your school/district has connected to CommonLit on Clever and that you are included among the application's sharing rules. If you and your admin need further assistance, please encourage your admin to reach out to partnerships@commonlit.org to integrate with Clever.

Sync Classes and Students with ClassLink

The ClassLink integration is available for schools and districts who purchase the CommonLit School Essentials PRO package.

  1. If your school has elected to share its data with CommonLit via ClassLink, you can log into CommonLit through ClassLink Launchpad and link your ClassLink account to your CommonLit account. Then, a nightly sync will import your rosters, add new students and/or co-teachers, and remove students and co-teachers no longer enrolled in the class. 
  2. If you do not see CommonLit in your ClassLink dashboard, instruct your ClassLink school/district admin to reach out to partnerships@commonlit.org to integrate with ClassLink.

Import Classes and Students with Canvas

The Canvas integration is available for schools and districts who purchase the CommonLit School Essentials PRO package.

CommonLit will allow you to import any published, available Canvas courses as CommonLit classes. To import a Canvas course, please do the following:

  1. On Canvas, click Assignments on your course navigation.
  2. Click + Assignment.
  3. On your Assignment form, select External Tool under Submission Type.
  4. Click Find to search for CommonLit.
  5. If your class is published and available to import, click Import Class or click Import from Canvas at the bottom of the screen.
  6. Select the grade levels and subjects associated with your class, then click Import.
  7. CommonLit will automatically import your class and its students and co-teachers.
  8. NOTE: If you haven’t already done so, you'll first be prompted to connect your existing CommonLit account to Canvas or create a new CommonLit account linked to Canvas.

Interested in integrating CommonLit with ClassLink, Clever, or Canvas at your school? Check out School Essentials PRO to save time and get set up quickly. Learn more about CommonLit's integrations here.

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