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What are each of the different Quill tools?
What are each of the different Quill tools?

Excited to start using Quill, but not exactly sure what the different tools are? Look here!

Updated over 4 months ago

Quill offers six unique tools to engage students in the classroom: Quill Diagnostic, Quill Connect, Quill Proofreader, Quill Grammar, Quill Lessons, and Quill Reading for Evidence. Each tool targets distinct literacy skills. Click on any of the links below to read more about each learning tool.


Magnifying glass indicating the Quill Diagnostic tool

⏰ Estimated time: 15 - 30 minutes per activity

A Quill Diagnostic assesses students' proficiencies in their writing skills. When a student completes a Quill Diagnostic, Quill generates a learning plan of activities based on their performance on the Quill Diagnostic.

Before students have completed any activities on Quill, assign a Baseline Diagnostic to initially assess students' writing skills. When students have completed a Baseline Diagnostic, assign the plans of practice recommendation activities that Quill has created based on students' performances on the Baseline Diagnostic. When students have completed all or most of their practice recommendation activities, assign the Growth Diagnostic that corresponds with the Baseline Diagnostic that students initially completed.

Tip πŸ’‘

Please click here to see a list of all Quill Diagnostics that Quill offers. This will help you determine which Quill Diagnostic will best assess your students' writing skills.

After students complete a Baseline Diagnostic, review the data reports for a Quill Diagnostic, where you can review writing skill proficiencies for your whole class, writing skill proficiencies for each individual student, review each individual student's responses to the prompts in the Baseline Diagnostic, and assign the plans of practice recommendation activities that Quill has created based on students' performances on the Baseline Diagnostic.

When students have completed all or most of the practice recommendation activities for the Baseline Diagnostic, assign the Growth Diagnostic that corresponds with the Baseline Diagnostic that students initially completed. A student's completion of a Growth Diagnostic unlocks access to data reports that compare a student's Baseline Diagnostic performance with their Growth Diagnostic performance and even more unique practice recommendation activities based on their Growth Diagnostic performance.


⏰ Estimated time: 10-15 minutes per activity

Quill Connect is Quill's sentence-combining tool and guides students to combine simple sentences into a more complex sentence using different writing skills. The prompts and targeted feedback help students advance from writing fragmented and run-on sentences to forming complex, well-structured sentences. Our Activity Summary report allows you to keep track of students' progress and performance, and our Activity Analysis report allows you to see students' responses to prompts, the feedback that students received from Quill, and whether or not a student correctly used the relevant writing skill when submitting a response for a prompt.

Click here to learn more about how Quill Connect analyzes students' responses, and click here to see a filtered list of Quill Connect activities that are available in Quill's activity library.
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⏰ Estimated time: 10-15 minutes per activity

Quill Proofreader teaches students editing skills by having them proofread text passages. After students edit the text passages, Quill provides feedback on the edits that they made. If students make any incorrect edits, Quill will provide a follow-up activity so that they may practice the writing skills with which they are not yet proficient. Click here to learn more about Quill Proofreader, and click here to see a filtered list of Quill Proofreader activities that are available in the activity library.


⏰ Estimated time: 10-15 minutes per activity

Quill Grammar helps your students practice basic writing skills, from comma placement to parallel structure. Students receive immediate targeted feedback for each response that they submit, which helps them strengthen their writing. Our Activity Summary report allows you to keep track of students' progress and performance, and our Activity Analysis report allows you to see students' responses to prompts, the feedback that students received from Quill, and whether or not a student correctly used the relevant writing skill when submitting a response for a prompt. Click here to preview and assign Quill Grammar activities from the activity library.


⏰ Estimated time: 20-30 minutes per activity

Quill Lessons are our tool for interactive whole-class or small-group writing instruction. During Quill Lessons, teachers guide students through interactive slides that contain writing prompts, and students respond to the writing prompts and participate in discussions about the writing prompts. Quill Lessons include a downloadable Quill Lesson plan, a full Quill Lesson script, writing prompts, discussion topics, and a follow-up independent-practice activity. Click here to preview and assign Quill Lessons from our activity library, and click here to see a guide on how to assign, launch, and implement Quill Lessons.


⏰ Estimated time: 15-20 minutes per activity

Tip πŸ’‘

Quill Reading for Evidence is recommended for students in grades 8 and higher.

During Quill Reading for Evidence activities, students read nonfiction texts. Then, students paraphrase and synthesize evidence from the text to complete three sentence stems about a key idea in the text. They complete...

  • a sentence stem using because to describe a reason

  • a sentence stem using but to describe a contrast

  • a sentence stem using so to describe a result or consequence

As students write, Quill Reading for Evidence uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to provide immediate targeted feedback to guide them through the revision process. This feedback will encourage students to refine their logical reasoning, clarify their ideas, and increase the specificity of their evidence. The feedback will also address their grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

With immediate, targeted feedback provided for each response, Quill Reading for Evidence coaches and challenges students to write responses that are precise, logical, and based on textual evidence. Access our free resources to learn how to implement this tool in your 8th-12th grade classes. You can also preview and assign Reading for Evidence activities from our activity library and preview activity packs of activities aligned to the WordGen curriculum.

Have more questions?

Please feel free to send a message to the Quill team using the green message bubble on the bottom right corner of the screen or email us at support@quill.org.

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