A class gets its curriculum when you add a course to it. Once a course is on a class, every student in that class can open it, you can assign its sections, and it shows up in that class's progress views. You can add a course from inside a class, or add one course to several classes at once from the Course Library.
Available on: every plan, including Free.
Before you start: you need at least one class. If you haven't made one yet, see Creating and organizing your classrooms. You can add courses to classes you own and classes you co-teach. School administrators can see a class's courses but can't add or remove them.
Add a course from inside a class
Click Classrooms in the sidebar and open the class.
Click the Coursework tab, then the Assigned Courses sub-tab. You'll see the courses already on the class, or "No courses assigned yet".
Click Add Course (or Add your first course on an empty class). A window opens titled "Add a course to" followed by your class name.
Find a course. Type in the search box ("Search courses or topics, like inflation") or click a subject button such as Economics. All shows everything.
Click a course in the list on the left. The right side shows a preview: its labels, a short description, a Students get: line (for example, "lessons and section quizzes"), and a What's inside list of its units. Long books show the first 12 units; click Show all 20 units (the number matches the book) to see the rest.
If you want to read it first, click Open the course. It opens in a new browser tab, so the window stays where you left it.
Click the Add to button, which carries your class name (for example, Add to Period 3).
The window closes, a message confirms "Added" with the course name, and the course appears as a card on Assigned Courses. If a course is already on the class, the list shows an In this class label and the button reads "Already in" with your class name.
On a phone: the list and the preview take turns. Tap a course to see its preview, and tap All courses to go back to the list.
Add one course to several classes at once
Teaching three sections of the same course? Do it in one step from the Library.
In the sidebar, open Library and click Courses.
Find the course and click Add to a class on its card.
In the Add to which classes? panel, tick each class. Classes that already have the course are ticked, grayed out and marked Has it.
Click Add to 2 classes (the number matches what you ticked).
A message confirms which classes got the course. If one class couldn't be updated, you'll see "Couldn't add it to" with that class's name, and only that class stays ticked so you can try again. If you don't have a class yet, the panel says so and links you to Classrooms.
What students see right away
The course appears in their course list. On their My Courses page (sidebar Curriculum > Courses), it shows up under "Not started" with a Start button, and it appears in the My courses card on their dashboard. Students don't need to do anything to join it.
Every unit is open unless you've used Manage Access to open the course a piece at a time. See Manage Access: choosing which units students can open.
Each course card names its class. A student in two of your classes can tell their courses apart, and each class keeps its own progress.
Adding Personal Finance Core Foundations (3e) also turns on Twine Town for that class (the picker tells you so before you add it), and makes the class eligible for course completion certificates. See Twine Town: teacher guide and Course completion certificates.
If you're adding back a course you removed earlier, your students' progress and your Manage Access settings for it come back too.
What changes for you
The course's sections become available in Create Assignment. See Creating an assignment.
The course appears in the class's COURSE picker on tabs that work one course at a time, such as Manage Access and Gradebook.
The course's card on Assigned Courses gives you Manage access and Remove buttons, and clicking the card opens the course.
Tips
Preview before you add. Open the course lets you read lessons and see quiz answers without anything reaching students. See Previewing a course as your students see it.
Add the course before the first day you need it, and use Manage Access to keep later units closed until you get there. Students see what's coming without racing ahead.
A class can have more than one course. Students see each one separately on My Courses, and each tracks its own progress.
Not sure which course fits? Choosing the right course for your class walks through the options.
Common questions
Is there a limit on how many courses a class can have?
No. Add as many as you teach. Keep in mind that every course on a class shows up in each student's course list, so only add the ones you plan to use.
Why can't I add a retired edition?
Retired editions are listed at the bottom of the picker, but they no longer get fixes or new content, so they can't be added to a class. Classes that already have one keep it.
I added the wrong course. What now?
Remove it from the class's Assigned Courses page. If no student has started it, nothing is lost. If some have, their progress is saved in case you add it back. See Removing a course from your classroom.
Do I need a particular plan for the OpenStax textbooks?
No. The OpenStax textbooks can be added to a class on every plan. See OpenStax textbooks in Intertwined.
I got "Couldn't add that course. Please try again."
Close the window, reload the page, and try once more. If the course now shows on Assigned Courses, it was added. If the message keeps coming back, contact us from the chat bubble in the corner of the Teacher Portal.
A student says the course isn't showing up.
Make sure the student is in the class you added it to, and ask them to reload their My Courses page. More checks are in A student can't see a course or assignment.