Learn how to add student-facing materials to your lesson, including activities, assignments, assessments, handouts, quizzes, worksheets, reflections, and exit tickets.
In CARL, components are student-facing materials that can be added to a lesson after the core plan is created.
Components can include activities, assignments, assessments, handouts, quizzes, worksheets, reflections, exit tickets, and similar materials students may complete, read, discuss, or use during the lesson.
Components are found in the Components & Resources area of the lesson editor.
| Tool | What it is | Use it when... |
|---|---|---|
| Components | Student-facing materials connected to your lesson. | You want to add a worksheet, quiz, reflection, handout, assignment, activity, assessment, or exit ticket. |
| Teaching Resources | Mostly teacher-facing instructional supports. | You want lesson or unit enhancements, ELL supports, or other teaching supports. |
| Blocks | Small content pieces added inside an existing section, component, or resource. | You want to supplement an existing template with something extra. |
Before adding components, make sure your core lesson plan is mostly finished.
This matters most when you use AI Generation. CARL uses your lesson content to draft component content, so your topic, goals, success criteria, grade level, activities, and class context all help the component fit the lesson better.
| Recommended order | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Generate your core lesson or unit plan. |
| 2 | Review and edit the lesson until the main plan feels right. |
| 3 | Add student-facing components after the lesson has enough accurate detail. |
| 4 | Generate Teaching Resources after the plan is mostly finalized. |
| 5 | Do a final review before publishing or downloading. |
Use Browse Components when you want to add a student-facing material to your lesson.
You can browse the component library, use filters, search for a template, preview the structure, and then add the component to your lesson from the same flow.
Browse, preview, and add a component to your lesson.
- Open your lesson in the editor.
- Go to the Components & Resources tab in the left sidebar.
- Click Browse Components.
- Use filters, search, or recommended components to find a useful template.
- Click Preview to review the component structure.
- Choose Use Template or AI Generation, depending on what the component offers.
- Review and edit the component after it has been added.
When adding some components, you may see two options: Use Template and AI Generation.
| Option | What it does | Best when... |
|---|---|---|
| Use Template | Adds the blank component structure. | You want to fill in the content yourself, or you already know exactly what students should do. |
| AI Generation | CARL uses your lesson content to draft component content. | Your lesson plan is mostly finished and you want CARL to create prompts, questions, instructions, or activity content. |
- you want the blank structure,
- you want to write the content yourself,
- you already know exactly what students should do,
- you want to use the template without spending an AI generation.
- you want CARL to create activity content,
- your lesson plan is already mostly finished,
- you want the component to match your lesson topic and goals,
- you have AI generations available on your plan.
CARL’s component library will keep growing, but it may not have every worksheet, activity, or assessment format yet.
If there is a template you wish CARL had, submit a request through the support page. Template requests help the CARL team understand what teachers need most.
- the type of template you need,
- the grade level and subject area,
- how students would use it,
- any format details that would make it more useful.
| If you want to... | Use |
|---|---|
| Add a student-facing worksheet, handout, assignment, activity, assessment, quiz, reflection, or exit ticket | Browse Components |
| Use a blank structure and write the content yourself | Use Template |
| Have CARL generate component content from your lesson | AI Generation |
| Add mostly teacher-facing lesson supports, unit supports, or ELL supports | Browse Teaching Resources |
| Add a smaller extra piece inside an existing template | Blocks |
| Request a missing component template | Support page |