Quill.org is a free website that helps students improve their reading and writing using short, focused activities. Teachers can use almost everything on Quill without paying, and schools can choose to buy extra reports if they want more detailed data.
What Quill.org Is
Quill is a nonprofit organization that creates online activities for grammar, writing, and reading. It works in a browser, connects easily with Google Classroom, and is designed for everyday classroom devices like Chromebooks.
Teachers get six main tools for free: Diagnostics, Grammar, Connect, Proofreader, Lessons, and Reading for Evidence. In most activities, students type their own sentences and get instant feedback that helps them fix and improve their writing, instead of just picking A, B, C, or D.
Free Plan vs Paid Plan
The main learning activities on Quill are free for all teachers and students, with no limit on how many classes or activities they use. This makes Quill a good option for schools that do not have a big technology budget.
The paid plan (Premium) adds extra reporting and school‑level tools, but it does not unlock the content itself. Premium includes more detailed progress reports, school and district dashboards, and support with rostering and training; there are also discounts for schools that can show financial need.
How the Reading for Evidence Tool Works
Reading for Evidence is Quill’s newest reading and writing tool for grades 8–12. Each activity uses a nonfiction text written at about an 8th–9th grade level, and takes most students 15–20 minutes to finish.
In a typical activity, students:
- Read a passage and highlight two sentences that match a key idea given in the directions.
- Complete three sentence starters using the words “because,” “but,” and “so,” which pushes them to show reasons, contrasts, and results from the text.
- Click a feedback button to see clear, specific comments that tell them what to fix and how to make the sentence better.
The feedback focuses first on the important ideas: whether the evidence is correct, whether the connective is used in a logical way, and whether the student is putting the idea into their own words. Only after those things are strong does the tool comment on spelling and basic grammar.
How Feedback Is Created
For each Reading for Evidence activity, Quill’s curriculum team writes the text, the sentence starters, and at least 100 examples of good and weak answers. They also write different feedback messages for each type of answer they expect students to give.
When a student submits a sentence, Quill compares it to these examples and chooses the feedback message that matches the kind of mistake or strength in that answer. If a student keeps making the same kind of mistake, they see a new message with more help, such as a highlighted part of the passage or a model sentence that shows what a strong answer looks like.
If a student has not written a strong sentence after five tries, the activity shows examples of strong student sentences so they can compare and learn from them. Many teachers say this feels like each student has a private writing coach that can respond right away to their needs.
What Students and Teachers See
When students open a Reading for Evidence activity for the first time, they see a short introduction that explains what they will do, why revision matters, and that their teacher can see their work and score. After that, they read the passage, highlight key sentences, and then write and revise their “because,” “but,” and “so” sentences.
Scores are simple: students get up to five attempts per sentence and earn a final score out of three, shown with traffic‑light colors (green, yellow, red). They are encouraged to replay activities and “Go for Green” to get more practice and a higher score.
Teachers are advised to:
- Model one activity with the whole class first, talking aloud about how to find evidence and how to respond to feedback.
- Let students practice in class at the beginning so they feel comfortable with the tool and the process.
- Aim for about 1–2 Reading for Evidence activities per week, within a total of 2–4 Quill activities per week.
There are also tips for working with multilingual learners, such as front‑loading vocabulary, using images and videos, and using browser tools for read‑aloud, dictionaries, and translation support.
Curriculum Links and Best Use Cases
Quill’s Reading for Evidence activities connect to topics in English, social studies, and science, such as debates on school dress codes or global issues. Many activities are linked to open, free curricula like WordGen Weekly, OER Project’s world history course, and aiEDU’s AI literacy units.
The skills in these activities match important English language arts standards, including using strong textual evidence, finding central ideas, building claims and counterclaims, and using correct grammar and punctuation. Because the content and student practice are free and the feedback is built in, Quill is especially useful in schools with large classes and limited time for giving written feedback.