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Help Guide For Teachers And Educators

Instructions on how to use Imagine Forest

Welcome teachers and educators! Thank you for choosing to use Imagine Forest. Before we begin, let us provide a quick introduction to our website. Imagine Forest for educators allows teachers to create writing assignments and track the progress of their students. You can also use our writing resources to create fun lesson plans and ideas for classroom activities. Below is a quick guide on how to use Imagine Forest as an educator.

Table of Contents:

  1. Signing Up as a Teacher
  2. Creating Your First Class & Adding Students
  3. Adding More Students to Your Classes
  4. Creating your First Assignment
  5. Editing Assignments
  6. Grading Your Student’s Assignments
  7. Finding Books Written By Your Students
  8. Student Guide to Imagine Forest
  9. How to Login as a Student
  10. Students: Completing Assignments
  11. Students: Viewing Feedback by Teachers
  12. Troubleshooting
  13. Resetting Student Passwords
  14. Deleting Student Accounts
  15. Moving Students to Another Class
  16. Deleting Classrooms
  17. Where can I find my classroom code?
  18. Can I Change a Regular Account to a Student One?
  19. Downloading PDFs and using them on school websites
  20. Any More Questions?

Signing Up as a Teacher

It’s 100% free to create a teacher account on Imagine Forest. To create a ‘Teacher’ or educator account on Imagine Forest, first visit the sign up page on our website. On this page select the “I'm an educator / teacher” orange button:

Complete in the required details on the sign-up form, such as username, email and password. Also to create an account on Imagine Forest you must agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy statement. Once you have completed the details, press the orange ‘Register’ button:

Once you have successfully registered to the site, you can start exploring Imagine Forest straight away! As a teacher you have access to all the normal features of a regular user, such as writing books, reading books in the library, access to resources and activities on the site. Plus additional features like creating classrooms, assignments and creating student accounts.

Creating Your First Class & Adding Students

Once you have registered, the first page you land on should be the dashboard page. If not you can access this page by clicking the ‘Dashboard’ link in the navigation:

Next, click the ‘Create Classroom’ button on the dashboard page:

On the next screen, you can enter a name for your class and pick any picture you like from our media library to represent this class. Once you’re done, click the orange, “Create Class” button at the bottom:

You can now add students to this created class, or return the classrooms page to explore the rest of the site. In this tutorial, we’ll continue by adding some students to this classroom. For this, we will click the ‘Add Students’ button:

  1. Add Students: Here you create the accounts for your students. This means creating a username for them and a password will automatically be generated for them. You then provide these login details to your students and they can start using Imagine Forest straight away with these login details.
  2. Share classroom code: For this option, the student will have to create their own ‘Student’ account on Imagine Forest. You as the teacher will not be able to create a username for them. Instead, your student will register to the site themselves using the classroom code provided. Once they are registered, they will automatically be added to this classroom.

Add Students Option

If you click the first option button, Add Students”, the following screen should appear:

Here you can set the usernames for your students and enter a password (or generate a password via the password icon). You can also enter the student’s school email address if they have one (this is optional):

Once you have finished adding in all your students, you can click the ‘Confirm’ button to confirm your list of added students. On the next screen, you will see the number of students successfully added to your classroom. You can also download a PDF list of student accounts, along with their passwords:

NOTE: If you lose these PDF instructions (or do not save them on your computer), there is no way to retrieve them again after creating a class for security reasons. Therefore you’ll have to reset your student’s passwords if they can not log into their account (more on this later on).

Below is a sample of what the PDF should look like. The first page is the teacher’s copy, while the remaining instruction pages are for your students to use:

Congratulations, your students have now been added to the classroom successfully. You can click the ‘Return to All Students’ button to see a list of added students on the site:

Share Class Code Option

Now let's talk about the second option for adding students to your account:

After clicking the “Share Class Code” option, you’ll see this screen with your class’s unique classroom code. Click the ‘Download Instructions’ button to download a PDF with this classroom code on it, along with instructions for your students:

Below is a sample of the PDF you should receive:

You should ideally print this PDF and give it to your students - So that they can follow the instructions and sign up to Imagine Forest with a student account. Once they have signed up, they can write down their username and password on this paper to help them remember their login details.

That’s it with the share class code option!

You can view your created classrooms by clicking the ‘Classrooms’ link in the side navigation:

Adding More Students to Your Classes

You can add more students to this classroom, by clicking the ‘Students’ link in the side navigation:

Then click the ‘Add Students’ button in the top right corner:

Select the classroom you want to add students to, and then click the ‘Next’ link:

On the next screen you will be presented with two options for adding students, similar to before:

  1. Add Students
  2. Share Class Code

Same as before, follow the on-screen instructions to add as many new students as you like. Please see our section on creating your first class above to find more detailed instructions on adding students to your class.

Creating your First Assignment

To create an assignment first click the ‘Assignments’ link in the side navigation:

Next, click the ‘Create Assignment’ button on the right side of the screen:

Select a classroom that you want to create an assignment for, and then click the ‘Next’ link:

On the next screen you should see three options for three different types of assignments:

  1. Write a story: Here your students can write a custom book or story based on the instructions you provide.
  2. Collect Points: Give your students an XP goal and let them do any activity on the site to achieve this goal.
  3. Complete Activity: Here you can choose an activity from the list and assign it to your students to complete.

Select any of these assignments types and click the orange ‘Next’ button. Each of these assignment types will now be explained in more detail.

Write a Story

If you selected the ‘Write a story’ option, you’ll have to give your assignment a title, a description and set a due date. If you want to select an image to inspire your students, you can use the ‘Choose Image’ option to add an image from our media library.

You can also choose to this publish this assignment straight away to the library page without grading it.

Once you have completed the required fields, you can click the ‘Create’ button to create your assignment:

After that, your assignment will appear on the assignments table for you to view and manage:

That’s it - This assignment will now become available for the students of this class to complete.

Collect Points

If you selected the ‘Collect Points’ option, you’ll just have to select the XP points goal that you want your students to reach and the due date for when this goal should be completed by.

Once you have completed both the required fields, you can click the ‘Create’ button to create your assignment:

After that, your assignment will appear on the assignments page for you to view and manage. And that’s it - This assignment will now become available for the students of this class to complete.

Complete Activity

The ‘Complete Activity’ type assignments allow you to choose from ten different activities. Some of these activities are ‘Timed’ activities. This means that your students will have a certain amount of time to complete these mini-games, such as the Anagram challenge and Another word challenge.

Please note that you can test these activities before assigning them to your students by selecting the ‘Activities’ link on the main site. Once you have found the perfect activity for your students, simply select it from the drop-down list and set a due date for this activity to be completed by.

Once you have completed both the required fields, you can click the ‘Done’ button to create your assignment:

After that, your assignment will appear on the assignments page for you to view and manage. And that’s it - This assignment will now become available for the students of this class to complete.

Editing Assignments

You can edit and delete all types of assignments by simply clicking the ‘Edit’ pencil icon by each assignment in the table:

When you click the edit pencil icon on any of the assignments you will be able to extend or change the due date of that assignment as well as make other changes:

Once you’re done editing the assignment, just click the orange ‘Update’ button and the assignment will be updated for you and your students.

Grading Your Student’s Assignments

You can view completed assignments by clicking the ‘Assignments' link in the side navigation. Then click the ‘View’ button for an assignment you want to grade:

This will take you to a page with a list of completed assignments by your students. On this page, you can view assignments and grade them, as well as leave feedback for your students. To view a student’s assignment, simply click the ‘View’ button:

Assignments ‘In Progress’ can not be viewed, as the student is still working on this. If a student has not started the assignment at all, then they will not appear on this list.

When viewing the student’s assignment, you can use the small left and right arrows by the book cover to view more pages in the student’s book. After reading the assignment, you can leave your student some feedback, give them a badge and select a grade:

If you are happy with the assignment, you can click the orange, “Marked” button. This will publish the book into the school library for you and other students of this class to read (no one else can view this assignment) - more on this in the ‘Finding books’ section below.

If you want the students to make some changes to it, then you can click the, “Re-send to Student” link. By doing this the student will be able to edit this assignment again and make the necessary changes. Once they are done, they can publish it again and send it back to you to grade again.

Please note the ‘Collect Points’ assignment can NOT be graded, as there is nothing to grade in this assignment type. The only assignment types that can be graded are ‘Complete Activity’ and ‘Write a Story’.

Finding Books Written By Your Students

Once you have graded all assignments you can view the ‘Write a Story’ type assignments in the Assignments library. This can be accessed via the Library link in the main navigation, and then choosing the ‘Assignments’ filter:

This page shows all the ‘Write a Story’ type assignments that you have graded and published. These assignments can only be accessed and read by students from your classroom and yourself, the teacher.

Alternatively, if your students have written books that are NOT assignments, these will be published in the ‘School’ library and can be read by all students which are in the same classroom. To find these books you can either click the ‘School’ filter in the library or search for the student’s username in the search bar provided:

To view ‘Complete Activity’ assignment types from your students you will have to go back to the ‘Dashboard’ page and then click the ‘Assignments’ link in the sidebar. Then find the ‘Activity’ type assignment and click, ‘View’ button:

From the next screen, you’ll be able to view a list of completed assignments. The ‘Choose Activity’ type of assignments will not be available in the School Library and so only the teacher and the student who completed this assignment can view it.

Student Guide to Imagine Forest

Hey there new students! Here’s a quick-start guide to help you get started on Imagine Forest.

How to Login as a Student

Once you have created a class filled with students, your students can start using Imagine Forest straight away. All they have to do is follow the instructions on the PDF you downloaded when creating the classroom. Below we have explained how each student can login.

Create accounts for my students

If you added students using the ‘Create account for my students’ option, then your student can start using Imagine Forest using the username you gave them and the password provided in the PDF instructions you downloaded.

First your student should visit the login page:

Here they can enter their username and password, as provided in the downloaded PDF. And then they can click the ‘login’ button (Please make sure there are no extra spaces in your username or password):

Once the student logs in, they will be provided with an informational pop-up. This pop-up tells them the basic rules of Imagine Forest. On this pop-up they should click the blue, “Continue” button:

And that’s it! Your student can now start exploring Imagine Forest, writing books, reading books in the library, completing assignments and so much more.

Share classroom code

Alternatively, if you selected the “Share classroom code” option to add students, this means your students will have to create their own student accounts using the classroom code provided. To do this the student must visit the ‘Register’ page and click the orange “I’m a student” option:

On the next screen, your student should complete the form by entering the classroom code provided, selecting age group, choosing a username and password. Also the student must accept the terms and conditions and privacy policy statement to create an account on Imagine Forest.

Once they have completed the details, press the orange ‘Register’ button:

The student should now automatically be logged in. They will first see the following informational pop-up on their screen. This pop-up tells them the basic rules of Imagine Forest. On this pop-up they should click the blue, “Continue” button:

And that’s it! Your student can now start exploring Imagine Forest, writing books, reading books in the library, completing assignments and so much more.

Students: Completing Assignments

Your students can start completing assignments by clicking the ‘My Class’ link in the main menu. On this page they will see a list of all assignments (including current and past assignments). For both the ‘Write a story’ type and ‘Complete Activity’ type, the student should click the orange ‘Start’ button to begin the assignment:

The student will then be taken to the assignment’s instruction page. Here they can read the assignment instructions and then click the ‘Next’ button when they are ready:

With the ‘Write a Story’ type the student can click the small ‘School hat’ icon to get the assignment instructions again:

They should complete their assignment fully and then click the ‘Publish’ button to go to the final step. On the final step they can write a short description to describe their assignment, choose a ‘Type’ and then click the ‘Submit’ button:

The submitted book will go to the teacher for them to review and grade. This book will not be made public in the library. Once the teacher has graded the assignment it will become available in the school library (NOT the public library).

Students: Viewing Feedback by Teachers

Students will get a notification telling them that their assignment has been graded and feedback has been added to it. To view this feedback, the student must click the ‘My Class’ link in the main menu and then click the ‘View’ link on the graded assignment:

Next, the student should click the ‘here’ link in the blue box to read their feedback:

Here the student will find the feedback, grade and badge given by their teacher for this assignment:

They can click the orange ‘Read’ button to view their completed assignment again or click, ‘Go Back’ to look at other assignments on their list. Your students can follow the same process to view feedback on the ‘Complete Activity’ type assignments. Please note, the ‘Collect Points’ assignment can not be graded and therefore can not be viewed by students or teachers.

Troubleshooting

Resetting Student Passwords

Sometimes students might forget their passwords if they created their student account using a classroom code. Other time technical issues with the site means that students might not be able to log into it straight away. If this ever happens you should try resetting your student’s passwords.

To reset your student’s password, first, click the ‘Students’ link in the sidebar. And then search for the student’s username or find them in the table:

Once you have found the student, click the ‘View Student’ button in the ‘Action’ column. On the next page, click the ‘Change Password’ button found in the top-right corner:

On the student’s settings page, you can change this student’s password by entering their new password in the ‘Reset Password’ section, and then in the ‘Confirm Password’ field. Once done, you can click the ‘Update’ button:

And that’s it - Your student should now be able to log into their account with this new password straight away!

Deleting Student Accounts

If a particular student leaves school or no longer wants to use Imagine Forest, you can easily delete their account. You can also delete a whole classroom that you no longer need.

If your students no longer need Imagine Forest, you can easily delete their accounts and data from our system.

To delete a student’s account, first, click on the ‘Students’ link in the side navigation. Then check the ‘checkbox’ near each student in the table, and click the trash can icon in the top right corner:

After clicking the trash can icon, the following pop-up will display. You will need to provide a reason, and re-enter your password to delete the student/s accounts:

After that, you can click the ‘Yes, Delete x User(s)’ link and the student/s and their data will be permanently removed from our system.

Please note, deleted accounts can not be recovered, as all data including books, completed assignments and activities are removed from our system.

Moving Students to Another Class

You can also move students to another class if they accidentally joined the wrong one. On the ‘Students’ page, click the ‘View Student’ button by the student you want to move.

Then on the student’s profile page, click the ‘Settings’ link. On the next screen, go the the ‘Change Class’ section, and simply select a new class from the drop-down list:

Once you have selected the new classroom, you can click the ‘Change’ button to move this student to a new class.

Deleting Classrooms

Similarly, you might want to delete a whole class that you no longer require. To do this, head over to the ‘Classrooms’ page. Then click the ‘View Class’ orange button for the class you want to delete.

On the next screen, click the ‘Delete Class’ button. You will need to re-enter your password, and then you can delete this classroom:

This class will now be permanently deleted from the ‘Classrooms' page and from your account.

Where can I find my classroom code?

Every class you create on Imagine Forest has a classroom code. This allows your students to sign up to Imagine Forest with a ‘Student’ account. To find your class’s classroom code, first, go to the Classes page and then click the orange ‘View Class’ button.

On the next screen, you will be able to see the classroom code, along with some instructions on how your students can use the classroom code to sign-up to Imagine Forest:

The classroom code is only used to sign new students up to Imagine Forest with a ‘Student’ account. There is no other use for this code.

Can I Change a Regular Account to a Student One?

Unfortunately, at this time you can not change a regular user account to a student account. Neither can you change a regular user account to a teacher’s account. If you want to change your account type, you will have to create a new account on Imagine Forest.

Downloading PDFs and using them on school websites

You MUST email Imagine Forest requesting written permission to use the PDF (or eBook) versions of your student’s books on your school or library website. Once permission has been given by Imagine Forest, you MUST follow these guidelines:

  1. Attribute Imagine Forest as the original source of these PDF books or resources.
  2. Link back to the original page on the Imagine Forest site with a do-follow link.
  3. DO NOT remove the Imagine Forest copyright from the footer of each page on the PDFs.

If you have any questions, please contact our team.

Got another question?

Still not sure how to use Imagine Forest in your classroom or school? Check out our FAQ section or contact us using our form and we’ll reply as soon as possible to help you out.