How do I add a cloze activity?

A Cloze activity is a fill-in-the-blank exercise where learners complete missing words or phrases within a passage of text. It is commonly used to test comprehension, vocabulary, and recall.

In CourseArc, the Cloze block supports multiple answer types—Text, Number, Dropdown, Dropdown - Pool of Options, and Long Text—giving content creators flexibility in how learners respond. To learn more about each answer type, refer to What answer types does the Cloze block have?

The following instructions show how to configure the Cloze block with the Dropdown - Pool of Options answer type.

1. Navigate to the page and select Edit this Page. Find the position you want to add a block and select the plus (+) icon.
   
2. From the dropdown, select Add Block.
   
3. In the Add Block modal, either:
   • Use the Search field to find a block by keyword
   • Select a block from your custom list of Favorites
   • Scroll through the list of All Blocks to select one
   • Use the various Categories to filter by block type
   • Select a star icon to add or remove blocks in your Favorites list
     
4. Select the Cloze block. The Add Cloze form will open. The form contains two sections—Cloze Settings and Content—and defaults to the  Dropdown answer type.
   
5. Complete the Cloze Settings with the following information:
   • Title: The default title is Interactive Matching. The title can be changed by entering a custom value in the field. The title will appear in the Overview page and the More Information area for learners and instructors.
   • Points: The points field will only be displayed if the module is being graded. As a default, the point value is set to 0. Change the point value if needed.
   • Answer Type: The default answer type is set to Dropdown. In this example, the Answer Type is set to Dropdown- Pool of Options.
     
     Each Cloze block supports only one answer type. All cloze items within a block will use the selected answer type — for example, selecting Text means every item in that block requires a text response. Answer types and formats are:
     
     -Text: Fill-in-the-blank (open text)
     -Number: Fill-in-the-blank (numeric only)
     -Dropdown: Inline multiple choice
     -Dropdown – Pool of Options: Inline multiple choice (shared option set)
     -Long Text: Open-ended freeform response
     
6. The Dropdown - Pool of Options answer type uses a shared set of answer choices across all cloze items in the block. To build the answer pool, enter each option in the Answer Options field, selecting +Add More after each entry until all options have been added. 

   
   

7. In the Content field, enter the full text of your cloze activity, including any words or phrases you plan to turn into cloze items.
   
8. In the Content field, highlight the word or phrase you want to hide from learners as a cloze answer, then select the Add Cloze in Text button from the toolbar.
   
   Note: Selecting text is optional when adding a cloze item. If the answer is not already present in your text, place your cursor where you want the cloze item to appear and select Add Cloze in Text to insert it directly.

   
   

9. When the Insert Cloze dialog box appears, select the correct answer for the cloze item from the available choices. Each answer type includes a required Label field — use this to provide learners with additional context about the cloze item, which can significantly improve accessibility.
   
   For more information, see How do I design a cloze activity to be accessible?
   
10. Once all the required sections have been saved, select the Add Block+ button to save the block to the page.
    
11. The new block will appear on the page in Edit Mode with a red, dotted outline indicating it's editable.  
    
12. Select the Publish My Edits button to save the block to the course page and see the content as it will appear to learners. 
    
    
13. Learners can select Submit to verify their answers. Any incorrect responses are highlighted. To earn the maximum points (displayed in the lower-right corner), learners can reset the activity and try again.
    

For additional information about the Cloze block, refer to the following articles:
What answer types does the Cloze block have?

How do I design a cloze activity to be accessible?