Before Day 1 of your Threads & Themes pilot, it is important to ensure your classes are set up correctly and your students know exactly how to access their materials.
This guide will walk you through confirming your rosters, understanding the student experience, and helping your students log in successfully.
1. Confirm Your Classes and Rosters
In most cases, your setup is done for you by your district. To check your setup, click the "Classes" tab in the top navigation of Threads & Themes, or go directly to threads-and-themes.newsela.com/classes. Your job is to confirm the classes and students look right and flag anything missing before your first day.
If your district syncs rosters automatically: Your classes, students, and enrollments are created directly from your student information system. If a student is missing or in the wrong class, tell your administrator or district technology contact. The fix belongs in the source system; any corrections made only in the Threads & Themes platform will be overwritten at the next sync.
If your classes were built manually: You can make manual edits or add students by opening the relevant class from the Classes page.
Important: Never have students share an account. If they do, their reading, writing, and assessment data will be saved to the wrong student.
To learn more about creating and managing classes in Threads & Themes, please refer to this article.
2. Prepare Devices & Expectations
Devices & Internet: A 1:1 device ratio per student is best. Working digitally gives students access to features like AI feedback on writing, instant scoring, highlighting, annotating, and accessibility tools. Because digital lessons require an active internet connection, we recommend having the print-ready Student Editions available as a backup just in case your connection drops.
What students will see: When students log in, they will only see the short-form text library and the specific lessons you have opened to them as assignments. They do not see teacher notes, answer keys, scoring guidance, or pacing information.
3. Instruct Students How to Log In
Each student must sign in with their own Threads & Themes account so their work is saved to them.
Students will log in using the method your school normally uses (such as logging in with a school email or an SSO like Google, Microsoft, or Clever). If you are not sure how students sign in at your school, your administrator or technical support team can confirm it.
Share Student Instructions:
We have a dedicated section of the Help Center just for students! You can provide your students with the following link so they have step-by-step instructions on getting into their accounts, and navigating the Threads & Themes platform: