User Guide

CONTENTS
1. World of Sparksville.........................3
2. Product Overview..............................4
3. Curriculum overview.......................6
4. Activity Manual...............................13
5. Methodology.......................................35

1. World of Sparksville

2. Product Overview

Welcome to the zippy zappy world of Sparksville. Its a really fun place where kids absorb
English naturally by playing games and completing activities. They join the Sparksville family of cool kids,
funky parents and zany grandparents in a world full of variety and surprises. Its a fantastic place where
kids can play to their hearts content while learning all the English skills they need for a bright and successful
future.

Online Course

Sparksville is the name of the town where the Sparks family live. There are three children in the family.
They are Chelsea, a funky primary school girl, her brother Max, a cool kid that students will identify with
immediately and a magical baby called Twinkle, who can hover around, even making objects appear and
disappear. Their parents, Gizmo and Cinder are equally amazing, as are the grandparents. Sparktacus is a
bright and lively old guy, always inventing wild and wonderful gadgets. Grandmother Stella roller-skates
around everywhere. There is also a robot called Forceps and a cat called Zap. Theres never a dull moment
in Sparksville.

Sparksville is an interactive 5-level online course for primary students. It introduces vocabulary, grammar
and conversational language through online presentations, practise activities and assessment. The course is
a safe supplementary space for students to practice and develop the language skills they are working on
in class. These activities can all be easily monitored using its advanced Learning Management System. The
expectation is that this course will supplement and match approximately 70 hours of in-class study.

Worksheets strengthen learning

Experience has shown that the more ways a language is learned, the better its absorbed. Along with the
online course, weve designed a range of worksheets which include audio clips. As your child works through
each level, download the worksheets with accompanying audio clips to match what he/she has just learned.
Used regularly, they will reinforce his/her understanding of English reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Each Sparksville level has 8 matching worksheets which
are well thought out, colorful and fun. They use the same
content as the online games and activities but in different
engaging ways, so words, phrases and grammar are
reinforced through repetition, helping long-term learning.
You can play the mp3 audio clips in the car, while waiting
for dinner or when your family can listen and repeat
together. Familiarity helps confidence in English grow. As
your child is progressing with each level, download and
print the worksheets that feature the topics theyve just
done online and make learning even more fun.

3. Curriculum overview
Sparksville Classroom
If you think your child would benefit from experiencing English in a group
setting, we run classroom courses for Young Learners of English in 120 language schools worldwide.

Sparksville covers a standard primary curriculum and is comparable in difficulty to other leading courses on
the market. The Sparksville online curriculum is based around the three cornerstones of language, teaching
them naturally through games and learning activities:

Hands-on tuition
Being able to practise English while getting to know new friends really brings the language alive, increases
confidence and nurtures enthusiasm for speaking it. Teachers can answer individual questions and identify
which areas could improve with extra focus.
Grammar

Classes welcome either individual children or groups who can avail themselves of attractive rates by booking
together. We also prepare specialised courses for schools.
Please get in touch for more information on broadening the experience of English for the young people in
your life.

ab

Voc

Skit

Vocabulary is presented in a clear way with colorful fun illustrations and sentences and
accompanied by native audio presentation.
Vocabulary is practised in the context of Grammar. Students move from individual words
to short sentences.
Language is used in conversations or Skits. This really brings the language alive in the setting
of the Sparksville world.

Vocabulary develops from numbers and colors to more sophisticated vocabulary such as locations around
town, occupations and hobbies. The grammar extends from simple greetings and the verb to be in its
simplest forms to the present continuous and past tenses. The skits contain a large amount of functional
language presented in a fun way.
The Sparksville curriculum is carefully designed to ensure children learn all the important elements of English
with a wide range of useful vocabulary. 5 learning levels gradually build a firm foundation in a straightforward and simple way.
Once kids are introduced to the fun Sparksville family and their pets theyll be eager to return often to play
with their new friends. They will naturally and easily develop one of the most valuable skills they can learn.
It will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

The Sparksville Curriculum

Level 1: Launch Pad
This level is a perfect start to English learning. We introduce the English words for all the familiar things in
every childs life like numbers 1 to 10, colors and simple adjectives like big, small, old and new. Because these
are all part of their daily lives, it feels comfortable and words can be repeated as they arise. They also learn
about food, nature, small animals, toys and school stuff.

Level 3: Word Trekking

Learning while having fun is very effective. Before long, children will be ready to move on to Word Trekking.
The basics theyve learned in Levels 1 & 2 help them jump to an impressive level of English speaking.
In Word Trekking, the vocabulary widens to include family, jobs, feelings and the weather. Children will
be able to name all the rooms in your house in English. Youll hear them describe the weather, and name
the days of the week and forms of transport. Theyll combine vocabulary with verbs to form fluid, flowing
sentences.

Level 4: Rewired
When you start thinking in a new language you have made it your own. Continuing the Sparksville levels,
doing the worksheets and listening to audio clips means your child will absorb English at a deep level and
start to think in English.
In Rewired, your child will be able to talk about things they relate to - afterschool activities and sports,
items of clothing and how to describe peoples features. Theyll be able to talk through their daily activities,
including the following: brush my teeth, eat breakfast, take a bath, and so on.
Your child is now building a significant library of really useful English words and phrases. Help make that
learning permanent by doing the worksheets that match each level of Sparksville. It will pay dividends.

Spend a pleasant hour with your child on Sparksville today and see how easy learning English can be.

Level 5: Stay Station

Level 2: Blast Off

At this level of the Sparksville curriculum your child is well on the way to speaking in English. Completing
all 5 levels is equivalent to a full primary classroom curriculum! Reaching this standard is a wonderful
achievement and is sure to stay with your child permanently.

Launch Pad gives children the feel for English and a comfortable level of knowledge. Blast Off builds on that
foundation and broadens the range of topics they can talk about.
Blast Off teaches about animals in the zoo, verbs like singing, swimming, running, the main body parts, a
wider range of food and more.
In a very short time children can build a great knowledge of English and begin to speak it. Reward their
progress at each level by buying a gift from the Sparksville Rewards range. It reminds them of what they
learned online and reinforces knowledge.

The more he/she learns, the easier it is to add new knowledge. The vocabulary, grammar and skits in Stay
Station help children to speak about shopping, mealtimes, months, activities, familiar local places and more.
Worksheets help children memorise new topics.
A command of English is the best gift you can give your child. The opportunities it will open up are exciting
and promising. Make Sparksville part of your familys daily life and help secure a great future.

Sparksville Activity Types

Topics
Unit 1

Level 1

Numbers

Toys

Food

School
Supplies

Nature

Colors

Adjectives

Animals
(pets)

Level 2

Shapes

Numbers

Utensils

Food

School
Supplies

Verbs

Body Parts

Animals
(zoo)

Level 3

Days

Vehicles

Feelings

Family

Jobs

Activities

Rooms

Weather

Level 4

Time

Actvities

Sports

Clothes

Level 5

Months

Weight

Vocabulary Presentation Activities

Sparksville introduces vocabulary using interactive digital machines that present audio, image and text in
a way that helps students internalize all three efficiently. Students click items and the images appear with
audio. Students have time to repeat the audio. They can then move on to various practice activities. It is
always easy for students to navigate their way around using the clear signposting.

After
Appearance Furniture Adjectives
School

Shoopping Appliances Days Out

Places

Yesterday Adjectives

Grammar Presentation Phase Activities.

As with the vocabulary presentation, students see the grammar for the first time through playing with
interactive machines. Each scene is set in a part of the Sparks family world and students enjoy pushing the
buttons to reveal the language to be learned.

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Skits Presentation

Practice Activities

The skits are presented in animated scenes. After watching the skit, students have a choice of activities that
allow them to check their comprehension of the content.

After viewing each presentation phase, students get to choose from a number of tailored practice activities.
Some of these are classics that all students will be familiar with such as word searches and drag and drop activities while some of them are activities uniquely developed for Sparksville. In each and every case students
are given audio and text with much support and feedback, wich is as motivating as possible. It is possible to
monitor how much time each student is spending and what scores are achieved on each activity.

Original Activity:
Clock Tock
In this activity students listen and race
the clock to drag and drop items into
the central spinning zone. Very exciting!

Classic Activity:
Drag and Drop

Original Activity:
Robodragon
In this activity students find pairs
against the clock.

Bonus Section
The bonus section provides a space for schools to upload and generate their own practice material. Using
the content management system they can do the following:
Create noticeboards for individual classes or students.
Upload material for students to download.
Generate and modify the existing activity templates as they see fit.

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4. Activity Manual

Walkthrough

ONLINE/CD ROM
LEVEL WALKTHROUGH

13

Main menu

Welcome to Sparksville

Settings

The Sparks living room

Target vocabulary

Numbers, Toys, Food, School Supplies, Nature, Colors, Adjectives,

Pets

Target structures

Hello...

Extension

Vocabulary: Home, Back

Structures: Welcome to Sparksville

Objective

Your objective is to select the topic you want to study.

Intro

You will arrive in the Sparks living room. The whole family is
sitting on the sofa.

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Step 1

You will see eight topic options.

Walkthrough
Objective

Watch the skit to learn new vocabulary and structures. Then

complete the Skit Quiz and Matching activities to consolidate
the new language.

Activity 1: Skit
You will meet some of the characters and hear their conversation.

After you have watched

the skit, click on the
buttons at the side to
get to the Skit Quiz and
Matching activities.

Click on the topic you want to study.

Exiting the Scene

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To
To
To
To

Topic
Topic
Topic
Topic

1: Numbers
3: Food

5: Nature
7: Adjectives

To Topic 2: Toys
To Topic 4: School Supplies
To Topic 6: Colors
To Topic 8: Pets

If you want to stop or replay the skit, click

on the buttons under the TV screen.

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Activity 2: Skit Quiz

Activity 3: Matching

You will see three questions each with three possible answers.

You will see the beginnings of four sentences. The endings are in white rectangles in the blue box at the
bottom of the screen. The aim is to match the endings to the beginnings.
When all the endings have been
correctly matched, the OK button
will appear and you can click it to
end the activity and receive your
time.

Click on the play button to listen to

the skit again.
Select the correct answer by clicking
on the circle next to it.

ok

If you want to replay the activity

click the Try Again button.

When all three questions have been answered correctly, an orange OK button will appear in the bottom right-hand corner.

Clicking this will end the activity and give you your time. If you
click Try Again you can replay the activity.

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ok

To match the endings, click and drag them to the correct place.
If you are correct they will stay there. Otherwise they will bounce
back to the blue box.

Exiting the Scene

To Topic Welcome Screen

To Vocab Activities

To Grammar Activities
To Main Menu

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Activity List

The following activities can be found in the Vocab and Grammar sections. For the specific vocabulary and grammar please refer to the individual topic pages.

Activity 2: All in a Row

The aim of this activity is to drag the letters from the right side to the blue space on the left to spell the
words.
When you spell the word correctly the letters will stay in place and you will hear a positive buzzer. When
you are wrong the letters will return to the right side of the screen.

Activity 1: Pop It
The aim of this activity is to match the vocab item to the word. When you click on the word you will hear
it as well. You should drag it to the correct space. If you put it in the wrong space it will bounce back to the
pink box at the bottom of the screen.

When all five words have been

correctly spelled, the OK button
will appear. Clicking it will give you
the next five words to spell. There
are two pages with ten words to
spell in total. When both pages have
been completed the OK button will
appear and you can click it to end the
activity and receive your time.

When all four items are correctly

matched the OK button will appear.
Clicking the OK button will take you
to the next page of four items. There
are three pages with twelve items to
match in total. After the third page is
complete the OK button will appear
and you can click it to end the activity
and receive your time.

ok

ok
If you want to replay the activity click the Try Again button.

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If you want to replay the activity click the Try Again button.

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Activity 3: Clock Tock

Activity 4: Letterbox

The aim of this activity is to listen to the audio of the vocabulary and to drag both the vocab item and
word into the central green and red circle. The activity doesnt begin until you click on the green start
button.

The aim of this activity is to find all of the words in the word search.

After you click Start the items will appear on the left and the words on the
right. Listen to the audio and drag the
correct items into the circle. If you want
to listen to the audio again, click the
green circle.

When all the items have been correctly dragged to the circle
the OK button will appear and you can click it to end the
activity and receive your time.

If you want to replay the activity click the Try Again button.

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ok

To find a word, click on the

first and last letter in the word
search.

When all the words have been correctly found, the OK button
will appear and you can click it to end the activity and receive
your time.

ok

If you want to replay the activity, click the Try Again button.

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Activity 5: Robodragon

Activity 6: Carousel

The aim of this activity is to find matching pairs of vocab items. The activity doesnt begin until you click
on the green start button.

The aim of this activity is to match the word to the image of the vocab item in the box. The activity doesnt
begin until you click on the green start button.

To start, click on any of the blue squares. An image of a vocab item will appear. Now, click on another
square.

An image of a vocab item will appear in the top blue shape and you will hear the audio as well. Click on
the word that matches it. If you click the correct word, it will turn blue and the next image will appear in
the top blue shape.

If the second square matches the first, the images will remain visible and you will hear a positive buzzer.
If the images dont match then they will disappear again. Keep clicking on images until you have found
all the pairs.

When all the squares have been correctly matched, the OK button will
appear and you can click it to end the activity and receive your time.

Once all the words have been matched to the pictures, the
OK button will appear and you can click it to end the activity
and receive your time.

ok

ok
If you want to replay the activity, click the Try Again button.

If you want to replay the activity, click the Try Again button.

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Activity 7: Listen Up

Activity 8: Matching

The aim of this activity is to look at the image in the box and select the audio which matches it.

You will see the beginnings of four sentences. The endings are in white rectangles in the blue box at the
bottom of the screen. The aim is to match the endings to the beginnings.

To match the endings, click and drag

them to the correct place. If you are correct they will stay there. Otherwise they
will bounce back to the blue box.

To listen to the audio click on the play button.

To select the audio that matches the picture,
click on the blue circle.

After the correct audio has been selected, the OK button will appear.
If you click on the OK button, you will be taken to the next number
image. There are ten images in total. After the tenth number has been
correctly matched to the audio, the OK button will appear and you
can click it to end the activity and receive your time.

ok

When all the endings have been correctly matched, the OK

button will appear and you can click it to end the activity and
receive your time.

ok

If you want to replay the activity, click the Try Again button.
If you want to replay the activity, click the Try Again button.

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Exiting the Scene

To
To
To
(If
(If

Topic Welcome Screen

Skit Activities
Main Menu
this activity is in the Vocab section) To Grammar Activities
this activity is in the Grammar section) To Vocab Activities

Topic 2: Toys
Setting
Target vocabulary

ball/balls, bike/bikes, jump rope/jump ropes, kite/kites, puzzle/

puzzles, yo-yo/yo-yos

Target structures

(number) (toy(s))
How many (toys)?
This is a (toy)

Extension

Structures

Topic 1: Numbers
Setting
Target vocabulary

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Target structures

Im (number for age)

Extension

Lets play a game!

Your turn.
No, try again.
I give up.
Never give up!

Vocabulary
Structures

27

Vocabulary

Hello. Whats your name?

How old are you?
Thats a nice name.
How about you?
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.

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Topic 4: School Supplies

Setting

Topic 3: Food
Setting
Target vocabulary

bread, cake, chicken, cookies, ice cream, juice, milk, salad,

spaghetti, water

Target vocabulary

backpack, book, eraser, marker, notebook, pen, pencil, pencil

case, ruler

Target structures

She/he likes (food)

Target structures

Whats this?
This is a/an

Extension

29

Vocabulary

Good morning.
Wow!
Here you are.
Pardon?

Structures

This is (food).

Extension

Vocabulary

Good morning.
Wow!
Here you are.
Pardon?

Structures

Hello. Whats your name?

How old are you?
Thats a nice name.
How about you?
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too.

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Topic 6: Colors
Setting

Topic 5: Nature
Setting
Target vocabulary

flower, island, leaf, moon, rock, sea, star, stick, sun, tree

Target vocabulary

black, blue, brown, green, orange, pink, purple, red, white,

yellow

Target structures

Whats that?
Thats a

Target structures

What color is it?

Its (color)

Vocabulary

Come here.
Okay.
Sit down.

Extension

Structures

No, thats a
Thats difficult.

Extension

31

Vocabulary

Got it.
Lets go!

Structures

Its time for (school).

Can you find my , please?
Just a moment.
Is that everything?

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Topic 7: Grammar
Setting
Target vocabulary

big, clean, dirty, fast, long, new, old, short, slow, small

Target vocabulary

ant, bee, bird, cat, dog, fish, hamster, lizard, mouse, rabbit,
spider, turtle

Target structures

Its (adjective)

Target structures

Its a/an

Vocabulary

Really?
I know!

Extension

Structures

Look at
Is it (adjective)?
This is my
Youre a great

Extension

33

Topic 8: Pets
Setting

Vocabulary

I dont know.

Structures

Is it a/an ?
No, it isnt. Its a/an
I like s.
I dont like s.

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5. Methodology
Fun, interactive learning provides kids with the tools to learn English without feeling as if they are in a
traditional teacher-led environment. Rather, they are in control of their learning, which in turn leads to a
more autonomous learning style. The combination of interactive online activities with follow-up worksheets
ensures learners are equipped with a written record of what they have learned online.
Getting to know the characters of Sparksville encourages kids to further explore the fun world of Sparksville,
thereby improving through the level system in a fluid, natural and most importantly, self-motivated manner.

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www.sparksville.net