Create an assignment in Microsoft Teams

Create a new assignment

Navigate to the desired class team, then select Assignments.
Select Create>Assignment.

Note: Select Expand tab (diagonal, double sided arrow) to enter full-screen mode.
Enter a title for this assignment.
Optionally, add instructions, a rubric, or a due date.
Optionally, assign the work to a specific group of students.
Add the assignment to calendars, if you want.
Select the channel for assignment notifications.
Select Assign at the top to assign the work.
1. Select Save at the top to safe a draft of the assignment.
2. If you don't want to save this assignment, you can select Discard to delete the draft.

Select Create, then Assignment.

Title and category

Give the assignment a title. This is required. You can optionally add a category.

Instructions and attachments

You can type out instructions in the text box or attach a file. You can also add existing files, links, or assignment integrations to your assignment and create and name a new file right from here for students to turn in.

Note: You can add up to five files for students to edit. The total number of resources you can add to an assignment is 10, whether editable or non-editable. Read-only reference files can be up to 500 MB in size. Files for students to edit can be up to 50 MB in size.

Select Attach to attach resources to the assignment. Choose a file from your OneDrive, upload a file from your device, or choose one of the other options set by your admin, such as MakeCode.

Note: If you're assigning a Class Notebook page, check what version of OneNote your students are using to ensure that their assignment pages will lock after the assignment due date passes.
Select +New to create a blank Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), or Whiteboard document, or a new video recording to hand out to your students.

Note: Select Apps to attach content from an app to the assignment. Admins can manage Teams apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center.
By default, Students can't edit attached documents, which means the document is read-only. This is a great option for reference materials.

To let students edit a separate copy of the attached file, select More options > Students edit their own copy. This way, students can edit their own copy of the file and turn it in for a grade. Only Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), WhiteBoard, ClassNotebook Page, and MakeCode files or Reading Progress assignments allow students to edit their own copies.

Note: If you have older documents with the file extension .doc, .xls, or .ppt, students won't be able to edit them. You can either attach them as read-only reference material or create a new file in Teams, copy in the old content, and save it. All new files you create in Teams or other Office 365 apps will have the correct extension.

Assignment instructions box with editing toolbar.

Add resources to an assignment.

Points, rubrics, and grading

Select the amount of points this assignment is worth, if any. You can use points on any number-based scale including whole numbers of 100 and set your own denominator.

Examples: 88/100 or decimals 3.7/4.0.

Select Add rubric to create a rubric.

Add points or a rubric.

Assigning to students or groups

Choose multiple classes, individual students, or groups of students in one class to assign to.

By default, only students who are in your class now will receive this assignment. To change this, next to Don't assign students added to this class in the future select Edit . Make your selection, and then select Done.

Note: If you choose a close date, any student who joins will receive this assignment until the close date.

Edit whether this assignment will go to students in the future.

Due dates and scheduling

Select a time and date for the assignment to be due. To schedule an assignment, next to Assignment will post immediately with late turn-ins allowed select Edit.

Here, you can customize when your assignment will be posted to students and when it will close for turn-ins. By default, no close date will be selected, which allows students to turn in assignments late.

Select Edit to edit assignment timeline.

Edit assignment timeline window.

Calendars

You can choose whether to add this assignment to your calendar on Outlook, students' calendars, and other educators or staff in your class team. Set this preference for all assignments in Assignments Settings.

Next to Add assignment to calendars, select the dropdown and pick one of the following options:

Students only adds the assignment to just student calendars.
Students and me adds the assignment to both student calendars and your calendar.
Students and team owners to adds the assignment to both student and other educators or staff in the class team calendars.

Note: To check on your full class team roster, navigate to your class team and select More options More options button >Manage team.

Add assignment to calendars dropdown with Students and me selected.

Cell Labeling assignment for a biology class appearing on Teams calendar

Assign, save, or discard

Choose the channel where you'd like notifications for this assignment to post. This allows you to keep student work and discussion organized by unit, topic, or subject. By default, assignments will be posted in the General channel or your selection in Assignments Settings.

To choose a channel to post in, next to Post assignment notifications to this channel, select Edit.
Pick the channel you’d like this assignment notification to post in, then select Done.

Notes:

To post assignment notifications to a channel, make sure bot posting is enabled. You can check that here or ask your IT Admin for help.
Assignments will post to channels that are visible to all students. Private channels will not appear during this step.
Assignments to multiple classes can only post to the General channel. Assignments to individual students do not post to channels.

When you're ready, you can finish the process of creating your new assignment by assigning it to students.

Note: If your school uses Turnitin, you can sync assignment turn-ins to Turnitin.

Assign will immediately publish the assignment and your students will be notified of the new assignment on the day you specified and the notification linking to this assignment will post in the channel you selected. They'll also have an entry on their Teams and Outlooks calendars if you've selected that option.
Save will save a draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar.
Discard will delete the draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar.