Teachers are able to log in, sync classes, embed Newsela articles in Canvas, and review student submissions within the Canvas SpeedGrader. In order to access these features, teachers must first sync their Canvas courses with Newsela.
What changed (2026 update):
Newsela now syncs Canvas sections as separate Newsela classes, rather than syncing each Canvas course as a single class. If your Canvas course has only the default section (no extra sections set up), nothing changes, it still appears as one Newsela class. If your Canvas course contains multiple sections, you will see one Newsela class per section, named "Course name – Section name".
Newsela classes that were synced before this update remain on the course-level format and continue to work unchanged.
If you are using Canvas for Elementary, please view the section below titled "Newsela in Canvas for Elementary".
Signing in or Creating a Newsela Account
Log into Canvas.
Open a published class in Canvas.
Click the Newsela link in the course navigation menu on the left side of the screen to open Newsela.
Syncing Canvas Classes in Newsela
In Newsela, go to your Classes page by clicking your name in the upper right-hand corner, selecting settings and selecting Class Directory.
From the Class Directory, click Sync with Canvas to choose the classes to import from Canvas into Newsela.
From the pop up menu, choose the courses you would like to sync with Newsela and click ‘Sync Selected Classes’.
Do not sync Canvas PD courses with Newsela. Syncing courses in which teachers are enrolled as students will restrict access to features and content.
When a Canvas course contains multiple sections, each section will appear as its own Newsela class in the sync picker. Select the sections you want to bring into Newsela.
After the initial sync, class rosters will sync automatically when you log in through Canvas.
Rostering your Students
Your student roster will import when you sync your classes. To view your students in your Canvas classes in Newsela, follow these steps:
In Newsela, go to your Students page by clicking your name in the upper right-hand corner and select the Students tab from the settings menu.
You’ll see a list of your students. This import might take a few minutes the first time you sync.
Note: Each Newsela class shows only the students enrolled in that specific Canvas section, not the entire course roster. If a student doesn't appear in a class you expected, check within Canvas that they are enrolled in the corresponding section.
Embed Newsela Content in Canvas Assignment
If you haven’t already, sync your Canvas sections in Newsela.
Create a Canvas assignment.
Under “Submission Type" choose "External Tool."
Click Find. Scroll and click Newsela.
If you have already created the assignment in Newsela, you can select the assignment and click Embed Assignment.
If you have not created an assignment in Newsela yet, follow the steps in the pop-up window and click Go to Newsela.
You’ll be taken into Newsela to create an assignment. Note the dark blue ribbon at the top of the Newsela screen. This blue ribbon indicates that you are working on assigning an article in Canvas.
Search for the article you want to assign. You can also utilize the Filters to search by grade range, language, and reading skills.
Click the Assign button on the article you want to assign.
Click + Add Classes and select the synced Canvas class(es) for the assignment. You can select multiple sections at once even if they belong to the different Canvas courses.
Customize the assignment with instructions and choose to lock the level or allow students to read at their just-right reading level.
Click on the Assign Button in the top right.
Now, you can return to Canvas.
You will see the Newsela assignment appear in the pop-up window.
Make sure the assignment is selected and click Embed Assignment.
Click Select in the bottom right of the “Configure External Tool” pop-up.
If you want students to view the content and submit quizzes inside your Canvas classroom, uncheck the “Load This Tool In A New Tab” checkbox.
If you want students to view the content and submit quizzes in a new browser tab, leave the box checked.
Add any customizations you would like to the Canvas assignment.
At the bottom under the “Assign Access” portion, for “Assign To”, select the section(s) that correspond to the Newsela class(es) you assigned to. If this assignment is intended for all sections in the course, leave it as “Everyone”.
Click Save and Publish at the bottom.
Important: Within Canvas, assignments live at the course level, not the section level.
You can now create Newsela assignments per section. However, because Canvas places assignments at the course level, an assignment will appear in every student's assignment list across the course, including students in sections you did not select on the Newsela side.
What to do: Pay close attention to the "Assign To" field during Canvas assignment creation. Set it to the specific section(s) that match the Newsela class(es) you assigned to. Without this, all sections will see the assignment.
What students in unassigned sections will experience:
They can still open the Newsela assignment and complete the quiz, but their scores will not pass back to the Canvas gradebook (no link exists between their section and the Newsela assignment).
Viewing student grades
Student quiz scores, annotations, and writing prompt response submissions can be viewed and manually graded in the Canvas SpeedGrader. Newsela’s Canvas video demonstrates grading Newsela assignments in Canvas
You can learn more about using the Canvas SpeedGrader here.
Since Newsela is an adaptive tool which allows students to take quizzes multiple times and adjust article levels, individual scores graded in Newsela can be viewed in the Speedgrader, but they do not pass back to the Canvas gradebook.
Newsela in Canvas for Elementary
Signing in or Creating a Newsela Account
Log into Canvas
Open a published Subject (class) in Canvas
Click +Announcement
Click Newsela in the left-side toolbar
This will log you into Newsela in a new tab
Note: You can also log into Newsela under the Resources tab of each Subject.
This will log you into Newsela in-page. If you receive an error, please verify that Cookies are enabled and allowed in your browser!
Syncing Canvas Classes in Newsela
In 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.
From the Classes tab, click Sync with Canvas to choose the classes to import from Canvas into Newsela.
From the pop up menu, choose the courses you would like to sync with Newsela and click ‘Sync Selected Classes’.
Do not sync Canvas PD courses with Newsela. Syncing courses in which teachers are enrolled as students will restrict access to features and content.
When a Canvas course contains multiple sections, each section will appear as its own Newsela class in the sync picker. Select the sections you want to bring into Newsela.
After the initial sync, class rosters will sync automatically when you log in through Canvas.
Rostering your Students
Your student roster will import when you sync your classes. To view your students in your Canvas classes in Newsela, follow these steps:
In Newsela, go to your Students page by clicking your name in the upper right-hand corner and select the Students tab from the settings menu.
You’ll see a list of your students. This import might take a few minutes the first time you sync.
Note: Each Newsela class shows only the students enrolled in that specific Canvas section, not the entire course roster. If a student doesn't appear in a class you expected, check within Canvas that they are enrolled in the corresponding section.
Embed Newsela Content in Canvas Assignment
If you haven’t already, sync your Canvas sections in Newsela.
Create a Canvas assignment.
Under “Submission Type" choose "External Tool."
Click Find. Scroll and click Newsela.
If you have already created the assignment in Newsela, you can select the assignment and click Embed Assignment.
If you have not created an assignment in Newsela yet, follow the steps in the pop-up window and click Go to Newsela.
You’ll be taken into Newsela to create an assignment. Note the dark blue ribbon at the top of the Newsela screen. This blue ribbon indicates that you are working on assigning an article in Canvas.
Search for the article you want to assign. You can also utilize the Filters to search by grade range, language, and reading skills.
Click the Assign button on the article you want to assign.
Click + Add Classes and select the synced Canvas class(es) for the assignment. You can select multiple sections at once even if they belong to the different Canvas courses.
Customize the assignment with instructions and choose to lock the level or allow students to read at their just-right reading level.
Click on the Assign Button in the top right.
Now, you can return to Canvas.
You will see the Newsela assignment appear in the pop-up window.
Make sure the assignment is selected and click Embed Assignment.
Click Select in the bottom right of the “Configure External Tool” pop-up.
If you want students to view the content and submit quizzes inside your Canvas classroom, uncheck the “Load This Tool In A New Tab” checkbox.
If you want students to view the content and submit quizzes in a new browser tab, leave the box checked.
Add any customizations you would like to the Canvas assignment.
At the bottom under the “Assign Access” portion, for “Assign To”, select the section(s) that correspond to the Newsela class(es) you assigned to. If this assignment is intended for all sections in the course, leave it as “Everyone”.
Click Save and Publish at the bottom.
Important: Within Canvas, assignments live at the course level, not the section level.
You can now create Newsela assignments per section. However, because Canvas places assignments at the course level, an assignment will appear in every student's assignment list across the course, including students in sections you did not select on the Newsela side.
What to do: Pay close attention to the "Assign To" field during Canvas assignment creation. Set it to the specific section(s) that match the Newsela class(es) you assigned to. Without this, all sections will see the assignment.
What students in unassigned sections will experience:
They can still open the Newsela assignment and complete the quiz, but their scores will not pass back to the Canvas gradebook (no link exists between their section and the Newsela assignment).
Viewing student grades
Student quiz scores, annotations, and writing prompt response submissions can be viewed and manually graded in the Canvas SpeedGrader. Newsela’s Canvas video demonstrates grading Newsela assignments in Canvas
You can learn more about using the Canvas SpeedGrader here.
Since Newsela is an adaptive tool which allows students to take quizzes multiple times and adjust article levels, individual scores graded in Newsela can be viewed in the Speedgrader, but they do not pass back to the Canvas gradebook.
Setting up the Integration in Canvas
If Newsela does not appear in your course navigation sidebar in Canvas, you may need to add Newsela manually by following the steps below:
Open a published class in Canvas.
If Newsela is not shown in your course navigation menu:
Click Settings → Click the Navigation Tab.
Click on the three dots next to Newsela → Choose Enable
Click Save.
Repeat for each of the classes which need Newsela access. These steps will also need to be repeated each quarter/semester in new courses.
Setting up Grade Levels and Elementary Filters in Newsela
In Newsela, click [your name] in the upper right-hand corner and select the Classes tab.
A list of classes will be displayed.
To set the grade level for each class, click the Edit icon beside the class name and select the grade level.
For lower grades, toggle the elementary filter.
Repeat for each Canvas class using Newsela.
Student grade levels are not stored in Canvas and are not synced from Canvas to Newsela. To ensure that student grade levels are accurate in Newsela, teachers should set grade levels and elementary filters prior to assigning articles.
Adding Rubrics
Teachers can add rubrics in Canvas to score Newsela assignments. Please note that you’ll have to first add a rubric to the assignment, then assign your Newsela article. You can find more information here.
Adding a Newsela content link directly from a Canvas assignment
Newsela content can be searched and added into Canvas assignments directly from that assignment. When you select content from within Canvas, your students will be linked to independent reading within Newsela. This feature must be enabled by a district system administrator.
Create an assignment within Canvas.
Click the Newsela “N” icon from the editor menu.
If the “N” icon isn’t immediately available, Click the v-shaped drop down menu and select “More External Tools.”
Enter a search term to Search for content.
Click any filter option to Filter search results.
Click a card to Preview article content and activities.
Click “Close” to return to the search results.
Click “Add” to add a link to Newsela content into the Canvas assignment from the browse or search results page.
Add this content as a Newsela Assignment to be able to view and grade it in Assignments.
Newsela and Canvas Classes FAQ
Will assignments created in Newsela sync back to Canvas?
Assignments have to originate in Canvas to sync with Newsela. Assignments originated in Newsela will not sync back to Canvas.
When are Canvas courses updated in Newsela?
Currently synced classes and enrolled students will be automatically updated in Newsela every time the teacher clicks on the Newsela icon in the course navigation menu of a Canvas course. To sync new classes, go to the Classes tab and click the Sync Now button.
Which Canvas courses will be imported into Newsela?
Currently published courses will import into Newsela. If your classes are not importing, confirm that they are published. You will need to sign into Newsela from Canvas to trigger the course import.
When will my classes archive in Newsela?
Newsela will archive your classes once they are marked concluded in Canvas or after the course end date passes. You will need to sign into Newsela from Canvas to trigger course archiving.
How will cross-listing my courses in Canvas affect my Newsela classes?
Cross-listed sections in Canvas now import into Newsela as separate classes, one per section. Each cross-listed section becomes its own Newsela class with its own roster.
If you use cross-listed sections, keep in mind that each section within a cross-listed course will sync as its own Newsela class. We recommend cross-listing only courses that use the default section (so each Canvas course maps to one Newsela class).
How do I add a co-teacher to a class imported from Canvas?
Newsela imports co-teachers from Canvas. Co-teachers need to be added in Canvas.
How do I add students to my Canvas-synced course?
Students in the Canvas course will be added to the course in Newsela. It is not possible to add new students to your Canvas-imported classrooms with a class code in Newsela.
Can I assign an article in Canvas to multiple classes at once?
Yes, but the workflow differs slightly between Newsela and Canvas.
In Newsela: A single Newsela assignment can be assigned to multiple Newsela classes (sections) using the Select Assignees tool during assignment creation. Since each Newsela class now represents a Canvas section, the teacher simply selects all the sections they want, even if those sections belong to different Canvas courses.
In Canvas: Canvas requires one Canvas assignment per Canvas course. If the teacher has sections spread across multiple Canvas courses, they’ll need to create one Canvas assignment for each course, but all of those Canvas assignments can still point to the same Newsela assignment.
Bottom line: You can reuse one Newsela assignment across multiple sections, even across different Canvas courses, but Canvas still requires one assignment per course to deliver it.
Can I assign an article in Canvas to individual students or groups of students?
No. While Canvas allows teachers to create assignments for individual students or groups of students, Newsela does not have a parallel feature. Any article assigned via the Newsela/Canvas integration will be assigned to the entire class in Newsela.
Why do I see multiple Newsela classes for one Canvas course?
Newsela syncs each Canvas section as its own Newsela class. A Canvas course with three sections will appear as three separate Newsela classes, named after the section. This lets you manage rosters and assignments at the section level. If you want students from multiple sections in one Newsela class, treat each section's class independently.
I am not familiar with Canvas sections, what if my Canvas course doesn't have any?
Every Canvas course has at least one section by default, even if you've never created one explicitly. If you haven't set up additional sections, your course will sync to Newsela as a single class, exactly as it did before. Keep your Canvas roster and enrollments up to date, and the changes will be reflected in Newsela automatically.
Why Do I See Classes From Clever/ District Rostered Classes?
Your district opted to automatically sync these classes. You can choose to archive them by opening your classes directory, selecting the class, and changing the status from active to archived.