Key features
Auto-grading
Every submission is scored instantly. Results appear in your gradebook the moment a student clicks Submit — no waiting, no tallying.
Answer variants
Define multiple acceptable answers per blank to handle synonyms, common spelling variants, and partial matches without penalising correct thinking.
Optional hints
Attach a hint to any blank. Students can choose to reveal it if they’re stuck — and you decide whether using a hint deducts points.
Per-blank analytics
After submission, see a breakdown of which blanks tripped students up most. Identify concepts that need re-teaching before moving on.
Rich passage formatting
Write passages with headers, images, bold and italic text — no need to strip your source material down to plain text.
AI-assisted authoring
Paste a passage and let ChimeEdu AI suggest which words to blank out, with explanations for each choice. Available on Premium plans.
Creating a Fill-in-the-Blank activity
1
Open New Activity
From your classroom dashboard, click New Activity and select Fill-in-the-Blank from the activity type list.
2
Write or paste your passage
Type your passage directly into the editor, or paste in text from an existing document. Use the formatting toolbar to add headers, images, bold text, or any other rich formatting your passage needs.
3
Select words or phrases to blank
Highlight any word or phrase in the passage and click Make Blank. The selected text becomes a blank that students must complete. Repeat for each term or phrase you want to test.
4
Configure each blank
Click on any blank to open its settings. From here you can:
- Add answer variants — alternative acceptable answers for that blank
- Add an optional hint that students can reveal if they’re stuck
5
Set hint point deduction
In the activity settings, choose whether revealing a hint deducts points from that blank’s score. You can set a flat deduction or make hints free — the choice is yours per activity.
6
Publish to your classroom
When your activity is ready, click Publish. The activity appears immediately in every enrolled student’s activity list.
Answer variants
By default, ChimeEdu grades each blank as correct only if the student’s answer exactly matches the text you blanked. Answer variants let you expand what counts as correct — without lowering the standard. For each blank, you can add as many variants as you need. Common uses include:- Synonyms — accept “photosynthesis” and “photo-synthesis” for the same blank
- Spelling variants — accept both British and American spellings (e.g. “colour” / “color”)
- Abbreviations — accept “DNA” and “deoxyribonucleic acid” for the same blank
- Partial matches — accept a key word even if the student includes minor surrounding text
Optional hints
Attach a hint to any blank to give students a lifeline if they’re stuck. Hints might be a definition, a first letter, a related concept, or any other prompt that helps without giving the answer away.- Without point deduction
- With point deduction
Hints are revealed freely, with no impact on the student’s score. Use this approach for formative practice where the goal is learning, not assessment.
Per-blank analytics
After students submit, ChimeEdu breaks down performance blank by blank. You can see:- Which blanks had the highest error rate across the class
- The most common incorrect answers submitted for each blank
- How many students used a hint on each blank
AI-assisted authoring is a Premium-tier feature. If you’re on the Free or Plus plan, you can still create Fill-in-the-Blank activities manually — the AI suggestion step is simply unavailable. To upgrade, visit the Pricing page.