Once students start submitting work, you can review and grade their responses directly in Kira's Grader. This article walks you through the full grading process for a standalone lesson.
Before You Start
At least one student must have started the lesson before grading becomes available.
Step 1: Open the Grader
There are two ways to get to the Grader:
From the Home page, check your Grading Queue and click any lesson showing submissions waiting.
From your Library, find the lesson, click it to open the lesson overview, then click the Grade button in the toolbar.
Once at least one student has submitted work, a number badge will appear on the Grade button showing how many responses are ready to review.
Step 2: Navigate the Grader
The Grader is split into two panels:
The left panel lists all students and all activities in the lesson. Use it to switch between students and jump to specific activities.
The right panel shows the selected student's response for the selected activity.
Click a student's name to load their submission, then click through each activity in the left panel to review their work.
Step 3: Grade by Activity Type
Grading works differently depending on the activity type.
Auto-graded activities
Multiple choice, fill in the blank, and drag and order activities are graded automatically. In the Grader, correct answers are highlighted in green and incorrect answers in red. You can add an optional explanation in the feedback field beneath the question — useful for clarifying why an answer was wrong or how to arrive at the correct one. You can also override the score if needed.
Open-ended activities Free response, essay, and document upload activities require manual review or AI-assisted grading.
To open up the Grading panel, you must click "Grade with AI" for one question or "Grade All with AI."
Evaluation — A summary score and percentage showing overall performance, a breakdown of how the student scored against each rubric criterion, plus plagiarism detection and AI writing detection signals.
Rubric — The full rubric used to assess the response, so grading stays transparent and consistent.
Feedback — Where written feedback lives. If you use AI grading, feedback is generated here automatically — but it's always editable, and you can add your own comments at any time.
Step 4: Check AI Writing and Plagiarism Flags (Optional)
For written responses, Kira automatically runs two checks, visible in the Evaluation tab:
AI Writing Detection — flags content that may have been AI-generated
Plagiarism Detection — flags content that may match other sources
Results appear as descriptive labels: "Very unlikely," "Moderately likely," or "Very likely." A green checkmark appears when both checks are complete.
Use these as one signal among many — they're intended to inform your review, not make the determination for you.
Step 5: Release Grades
When you're satisfied with your review, click Release Grades. This sends each student their score and any feedback you've added.
⚠️ Grades are not visible to students until you release them. You can grade across multiple sessions and release when you're ready.
FAQs
Can I grade in multiple sessions and release later? Yes. Grades are saved as you go. Students won't see anything until you click Release Grades.
Can I override an AI-generated grade? Yes. Click into any graded activity and adjust the score or feedback before releasing.
What does the grading progress bar track? It shows how many submissions you've reviewed — manually or with AI — out of the total. It updates as you go, regardless of whether grades have been released.
Can I add feedback on auto-graded questions? Yes. For multiple choice questions, there's an explanation field beneath each question where you can add teacher feedback before releasing grades.
What if a student hasn't started the lesson yet? They won't appear in the Grader until they open the lesson and begin at least one activity.
Can I grade one student at a time? Yes. Use the student selector in the left panel to move between students. You don't have to grade everyone before releasing.