Create a Worksheet

Create a new worksheet or transform a current worksheet into an Otus activity or assessment.

Monica Burke avatar
Written by Monica Burke
Updated over a week ago

Do you have a worksheet (Word document, PDF, Google Doc...) that you want your students to complete? There are a few options here that will work for you:

  • Option 1: Create the worksheet using questions on an Advanced Assessment.

  • Option 2: Add the worksheet as an image into an Advanced Assessment question that the students can free-hand write or draw on.

  • Option 3: Add the worksheet to a Rubric Assessment, students will print, complete, and upload their work as an image on the same rubric assessment.

  • Option 4: Add the worksheet to a Lesson, students will print, complete, and upload their work as an image on a rubric assessment. Lessons are not included in the gradebook, so this option would not have a grade assigned to it.

💡 Tips

  • Don't let the word assessment deter you. In Otus, the term "assessment" is used to indicate the collection of student work; if you are using the points gradebook, you can exclude a grade from being calculated into the total! Advanced Assessments are a great way to create many different types of activities for students to complete.

  • Screenshots and screen clips are an easy way to capture the contents of the worksheet.

❗Please note, if using the standards gradebook, all attempts (assessments) are used to determine the mastery of a standard; there is no way to exclude standards attempts from the gradebook.


Create the Worksheet as an Advanced Assessment

With this option, you can create the essence of the worksheet directly in Otus. Ultimately, this option will be easiest for students as it takes the least number of steps to complete. These types of activities can also auto-score!

Here is an example of a PDF worksheet and its re-created version in Otus.

Original PDF

Otus Advanced Assessment

The above example is of a 4th-grade science activity, where the goal is to place words into the correct categories. In an Advanced Assessment, the question type used in the example above is called Classification.

Teacher Steps:

  1. Create the Advanced Assessment.

  2. Build the activities.

  3. Assign the assessment.

  4. View the student's work.

Student Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Assessments module.

  2. Complete the activity/activities in the assessment.

  3. Submit the assessment.

See below for suggestions on how to make various activities in an Advanced Assessment. The images on the left are the worksheet, and the images on the right are what they can look like in Otus.

An example of a Grade K missing numbers activity.

An example of a Grade 6 vocabulary matching activity.

An example of a Grade 5 science labeling activity.

💡 Tip: Want your students to be able to check their answers? They can do that in Advanced Assessments! Check out this article for more information.

You can find more example of Advanced Assessment questions here.


Add Images of the Worksheet for Students to Free-Hand Write or Draw On

Like option 1, this option also uses an Advanced Assessment, and it is also very easy when it comes to student completion. Here, you will use an image of the worksheet as the "background" of a question; of which the students will then be able to free-hand write or draw on.

Here is an example of a PDF worksheet and its re-created version in Otus.

Original PDF

Otus Advanced Assessment

The example above is of a Thanksgiving word search. The Otus version uses a screenshot of the word search portion and the list of words from the PDF. In an Advanced Assessment, the question type used above is called Drawing.

Teacher Steps:

  1. Capture screenshots or screen clips from the worksheet/PDF.

  2. Create the Advanced Assessment.

  3. Add the screenshots as activities using the Drawing question.

  4. Assign the assessment.

  5. View the student's work.

Student Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Assessments module.

  2. Complete the activity/activities in the assessment.

  3. Submit the assessment.

❓ When is this better than Option 1?

If the primary student action for the activity is free-hand writing or drawing, this is your best option. Option 1 is best for structured activities that can be digitally manipulated (like dragging and dropping or matching), or if you want students to be able to check their answers. If students will be drawing or you want them to practice free-hand writing, use option 2!


Use a Rubric Assessment for Distribution and Submission

In this option, you will use a Rubric Assessment to distribute the worksheet, and students will print, complete, and upload the worksheet back onto the Rubric. The difference between this option and option 4 is that this option suggests distributing the worksheet to students through a Rubric Assessment, while option 4 suggests using a Lesson for the distribution of the worksheet.

This is what it looks like for the students to access the worksheet in the rubric assessment:

The worksheet will need to be added as an attachment when creating the assessment. When the students open the assessment, the attachment will appear as a link in the upper-left corner. They will need to click on the link to access the attachment.

Teacher Steps:

  1. Create the Rubric Assessment.

  2. Add the worksheet as an attachment to the Rubric.

  3. Assign the assessment.

  4. View the student's work.

Student Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Assessments module.

  2. Start the rubric assessment and download the attached worksheet.

  3. Print and complete the worksheet.

  4. Add an attachment by selecting Choose File under Student Attachments.

  5. Choose the Image option.

  6. Take a live photograph of the completed worksheet.

  7. Submit the assessment.

💡 Tip: The student also can take a picture of their worksheet using their phone or another device, then send that image to themselves to download onto their computer. They can then upload that image to their rubric assessment by replacing step 6 above with "browse their computer for the image".


Use a Lesson for Distribution and a Rubric for Submission

In this option, you will use a Lesson to distribute the worksheet, and students will print, complete, and upload the worksheet back onto the. The difference between this option and option 3 is that this option suggests distributing the worksheet to students through a lesson, while option 3 suggests using a rubric assessment for the distribution of the worksheet.

This is what it looks like for the students to access the worksheet in the lesson:

The worksheet will need to be added as a file on an activity in a lesson. When the students select the tile, the file will appear as a link on the bottom of the tile that says Download.

Teacher Steps:

  1. Create the Lesson.

  2. Add the activity that contains the file for the worksheet.

  3. Create the Rubric Assessment.

  4. Assign the assessment.

  5. View the student's work.

Student Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Lesson module.

  2. Open the activity with the worksheet and download the worksheet/PDF.

  3. Print and Complete the worksheet.

  4. Navigate to the Assessments module.

  5. Start the rubric assessment.

  6. Add an attachment by selecting Choose File under Student Attachments.

  7. Choose the Image option.

  8. Take a live photograph of the completed worksheet.

  9. Submit the assessment.

💡 Tip: The student also can take a picture of their worksheet using their phone or another device, then send that image to themselves to download onto their computer. They can then upload that image to their rubric assessment by replacing step 6 above with "browse their computer for the image".

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