Using the Google Classroom Add-on

Information on using the Google Classroom Add-ons with Newsela

Teachers can create new accounts in one of two ways:

  1. Go to https://newsela.com/join/welcome/. Follow these Sign up directions.

  2. If the teacher tries to initiate the Google Classroom Add-ons from within Google Classroom, but does not have an account, the teacher will automatically be taken through a new registration workflow in a new browser tab. To start this process, select Sign in with your Google Account  

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  3. Select your school. Select your school if it is shown, otherwise select Search for your school. If your school can’t be found, a request can be submitted to add your school.

  4. Confirm your school selection and email account by selecting Submit

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  5. Proceed through the product introduction slides until you are prompted to sync your Google Classroom rosters. Select the classes that you would like to sync and complete the grade level and subject taught in the class.

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  6. Then select Sync Classrooms.

  7. This completes the new user setup. You may now return to Google Classroom to use the Add-on

Pro Tip: Be sure to sync your Google Classroom rosters before having your students sign in. By doing this, you’ll create all of your students accounts and simplify the initial setup process for all of your students. All they will need to do is Sign in. If the student does not already have an account they will be requested to make a Newsela account.

If you have classes and students set up in Google Classroom, you can import that data to automatically create student accounts, classes and class rosters in Newsela. After syncing rosters, students can use Google login to access Newsela.

This video will walk you through syncing your Google Classrooms to Newsela, or follow the steps below:

  • Syncing your class rosters automatically creates Newsela accounts for your students. They do not need to register to use Newsela. They can now just login with Google to access Newsela.

  • Go to your Classes page by clicking your name in the upper right-hand corner and selecting the Classes tab from the settings menu.  

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  • Click Sync with Google.

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  • Select the classes you want to import, choose a grade level and subject for each, then click Sync Selected Classes.

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  • You may need to wait for the sync to complete.

  • To confirm that your students are in your class, go to your Students page. Under each class name, you’ll see a list of students in the class. The student roster in Newsela should correspond to the student roster in Google Classroom

Imported students will see your class on their settings page. 

  1. Create a Google Classroom instructional object.

  2. Select Add-ons/Newsela to launch the content search experience

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  3. Enter a search term to Search for content.

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  4. Click any filter option to Filter search results.

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  5. Click a card to Preview article content and activities.

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  6. Click Back to return to the search results.

  7. Click Add Link to add a link to Newsela content into the Google assignment from the browse or search results page.

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  1. To view the students work within Google Classroom, select the Classroom assignment with the Newsela work and the number of students who have turned in the assignment.

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  2. Select the student work that needs to be scored

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  3. View the student work and enter score and Private comments as necessary.

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  • How come the Add-On won’t start properly?

    • Be sure that cookies are enabled in the browser where the Add-on is being used.

  • Can I use private browsing or incognito mode?

    • No. Incognito mode / private browser will not work properly

  • Do I need to enable cookies for this site in the browser that I’m using?

    • Yes, if you don’t then the Single Sign On may not work properly.

  • Do I need to enable pop ups for Google Classroom?

    • Yes. this is necessary to access the search widget.

  • Can I use the Add-on functionality with any Google Classroom Edition.

    • No. The Add-on is only available to users that have the Teaching and Learning Upgrade or Education Plus edition of Google Classroom. 

  • I installed the Add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace, but the Add-on button is not showing up for me, what’s wrong?

    • Verify with your Google Administrator that you are using theTeaching and Learning Upgrade or Education Plus edition of Google Classroom. 

  • How come I can’t use the Newsela Binder to look at the work done by students on articles assigned through the Google Classroom Add-on?

    • When you select Newsela content from within Google Classroom using the Add-on, no Newsela assignment is created. Students will be linked to the article, and complete the work as independent reading within Newsela.  Unless you also assign the article in Newsela and share the assignment link with students there will be no Binder view of the students work on the assignment

To ensure that your teachers and students receive the correct Newsela experience please ensure that teachers are verified as teachers within the Google Admin Console.