Which types of questions can students answer through the CommonLit platform?

When you assign a CommonLit text to students, they will be asked to read the text and complete the set of assessment questions. These assessment questions can include multiple-choice, short response, both multiple-choice, and short response, or none at all! Teachers have the option to also assign guided reading questions for students to complete and submit.

Currently, students cannot respond to a text’s discussion questions through the platform, except for CommonLit 360 lessons. Discussion questions will never count toward a student’s grade on his or her assignment.

We recommend that teachers use the discussion questions to lead an oral debate in class. To do this inside the classroom, print out the “Discussion Questions” page by clicking “Download PDF” just above the text’s title. Then, distribute this handout to students and ask them to brainstorm their answers in writing before discussing it with their peers.

Feel free to download our discussion graphic organizer and our list of sentences starters to use in your classroom discussions. You can find them here.

When teaching remotely, screen share the "Discussion Questions" and ask them to brainstorm their ideas within the whole group or a breakout room.