The Easel Activities tool allows educators to create custom, interactive digital activities by adapting select existing resources accessed within TpT School Access or using their own original materials.
You can customize your activity, assign it to students, review their submissions, and provide feedback to your students instantly.
Here’s how it works: Discover > Prepare > Assign > Review
1. Discover
When searching for resources, look for the 
and
badges to know which resources have been opted into this experience by the Teacher-Author. Use the “Easel Activities” filter when searching to only show resources that can be used to make Easel Activities. Then, access the resource using a resource license (unless it’s a free resource) and click the “Open in Easel” button in the toolbar at the top of the viewer.
2. Prepare
Get creative! You can reorder and remove pages (e.g. an answer key), add text, or add answer boxes.
- Pages
- To reorder pages, click “Edit Pages” on the left-hand side of the tool. Then, click and drag pages into the order you want them to appear in.
- To remove pages, click “Edit Pages” on the left-hand side, select the page(s) you want to remove, and click the “Remove” button. To re-add pages you’ve removed, click the “Add from original” button.
- Tip: Remove answer keys or teacher instructions prior to assigning to students.
- Text
- To add text, click “Text” in the toolbar, click anywhere in the activity, and start typing! You can customize the size and color of the text you’re adding by using the toolbar.
- Make text movable: You can now make specific text movable for students to be able to drag in various activities. Learn more here.
- Tip: Include additional instructions for students in the margins, making it clear how to complete each exercise.
- Answer boxes
- To add answer boxes so students can easily type responses, click “Answer Box” in the toolbar. Then, click and drag your mouse to create an answer box.
- You can click and drag on an answer box to move it around. You can also click on the circles on the edge of the answer box to resize it.
- Note that you cannot enter text inside an answer box as the teacher. To add text to the activity, click “Text” in the toolbar.
- Tip: Use Answer Boxes for fill-in -the-blank questions to make it easier for students to see where they should enter answers.
To delete any customizations you’ve made, click “Delete” in the toolbar, and then click the customization you wish to delete (or drag the “Delete” icon around to quickly delete multiple customizations). Alternatively, you can first click a customization and then press the “Delete” key on your keyboard.
When you’re done creating your activity, click the “Preview” tab at the top of the page to see what your activity will look like for students. This view shows what students will see on a laptop or tablet, including the tools that will be available to them.
3. Assign to Students
To assign your activity to your students, click the “Assign & Review” tab at the top of the page. When you click “Assign,” you'll have two options for assigning the activity to your students:
- You can assign to your students via Google Classroom by clicking on the green Google Classroom button and entering the appropriate details.
- Copy the link to share with your students directly via other ways. Students will need to use a Google email account in order to complete the activity.
Tip: If you want to group student responses by class, then you can create separate access codes or links for each class. Each classroom will have a unique URL, specific to the class code.
Note that this tool requires students to sign in using a Google email account in order to complete the activity.
Students will then be able to see the Easel Activity assignment link. When students click that link, they’ll be able to complete the activity on a laptop or tablet. Once a student is done, they will click “Turn In” at the top of the page to submit their completed work.
4. Review
To review student submissions, click on your name at the top of the page when you’re logged into your TpT School Access account to open the dropdown menu. Then, click “Easel by TpT.”
You’ll then be able to select which Easel Activities you want to review your student submissions on. Please note that:
- You can only review student submissions through the Easel Activities experience on TpT School Access, not via Google Classroom.
- You will receive a notification email at the end of each day if you have any new student responses to review. You'll receive a notification for each Easel Activity you've assigned.
Add feedback directly to student work using the Text tool and the Pen tool (to draw lines). When you’re done, click the “Return” button to send the work back to students. Please then let your students know that you have returned their work to them with feedback, as they will not get a notification.
Tip: You can also use the “Return” button to return work to students if they accidentally submit work too early.
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What's Next?
- To learn more about Easel Activities, check out this FREE interactive tutorial resource, watch this step-by-step video, or check out this Getting Started Guide!
- Ready to get started? Search for resources you can use as Easel Activities.
Have additional questions? Contact us. We’re happy to help!