Sparkle-a spelling game

There are moments in the classroom of unexpected down time; an assembly is late, a guest speaker doesn’t show or recess is canceled. Other times, a teacher wants to give the students a reward for good behavior in the form of a game. One of my favorite activities for these moments is SPARKLE. When I first heard about it from my students, I thought they had made it up, but apparently it’s something that many classrooms play.

This is the way we play:

– Have all students sit on their desks.

-Using your spelling list, pick a word and ask a student to start spelling it

-Each student (in order) gives a letter of the word. If he or she picks a wrong letter, they have to sit back down in their chair.

-The word CANNOT be repeated by the teacher nor can any of the letters that the kids say-this guarantees that the students will pay attention even when it is not their turn!!

-after the last letter of the word is given, the next person says SPARKLE-again they can’t be prompted, they have to know that it is the end!!

-They can either Sparkle Up (which means they can pick anyone in the room who is in their chair to sit back on their desk) or Sparkle Down (both people on either side of them have to sit down in their chairs)

-Who ever is left sitting on their desk at the end is the winner!!

My kids would beg and beg to play it!! A great review game right before the Spelling Test as well!

Here’s another version of the same game.

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Christmas Language Arts Activities

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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