About Assignments

📣 Update Notice: The Student Planner was previously called "Assignments" or the "Assignment Calendar."

Types of Assignments

Spark offers three main types of assignments you can create:

1. Assignments
   • A single, unique task assigned to a specific date.
   • Appears in the Student Portal on the assigned date and is due the same day.
2. Assignment Sets
   • Recurring assignments that repeat on a regular schedule.
   • Can span an entire Session or use custom start and end dates.
   • When editing or deleting an assignment set, you can modify or remove a single instance or the entire set.
3. Goals
   • Long-term objectives designed for self-directed learning.
   • Include a completion timeline and total number of units, such as pages or chapters.
   • Provide suggested daily unit targets while allowing students to adjust their pace.

Where to Create Assignments

You can create assignments from several places in Spark. Each provides a different way to organize and view assignments.

Class Stream

The Class Stream is specific to a classroom and provides a timeline of classroom activity. In addition to assignments, it can include events, resources, and messages.

Create an assignment from the Class Stream when you want the assignment to be part of the classroom's ongoing timeline.

Student Planner

The Student Planner provides a calendar-style view of assignments. You can create assignments from the school-wide Learning -> Student Planner page or from the Student Planner within a classroom.

• Schedule assignments by date and see how they fit into a student's overall schedule.
• Easily view a list of students and their assignment submissions.
• Filter the view by student, subject, classroom, or course.

Assignments Page

The Assignments page provides a list-style view of assignments. You can create assignments from the school-wide Learning -> Assignments page or from the Assignments page within a classroom.

• Use this view when you prefer to work with assignments as a list rather than on a calendar or timeline.
• Easily manage or edit assignments in bulk.
• Filter assignments by student, subject, classroom, or course.

Tip: The same assignment can be viewed through the different areas of Spark. Choose the location that best fits the way you are planning or managing your assignments.

Selecting the Assignment Type for Your Student

Whether you use an assignment, assignment set, or goal depends on your students' needs and the type of curriculum and learning environment in your program.

Assignments and Assignment Sets

• Ideal for teachers who prefer structured daily tasks.
• Can easily be moved to new dates.
• Assignment sets can be created quickly and their schedules can be edited as needed.
• Help keep a group of students moving at the same pace through a curriculum.

Goals

• Best for students who need flexibility or prefer to work at their own pace.
• Useful for curriculum that doesn't have regular, daily assignments.
• Allow teachers to monitor students' progress toward a long-term objective.
• Often ideal for older students who need more ownership of their learning.

Remember, all assignment types can be used for the same student or classroom.

Connecting Students to Their Assignments

Student Portal

Students can view and submit assignments or work toward goals through the Student Portal. Instructions, documents, and links are accessible directly from the portal.

See the help docs about portal use and access under the Student section to learn more.

Printing Assignments

If students don't have portal access, assignments can be printed.

Click Print at the top of the assignment page and customize your print options.

See Printing Assignments to learn more.

Courses and Assignments

Courses provide another way to plan assignments ahead of time, particularly when you are building out a curriculum for an entire Session.

Assignments can be created in two general ways:

1. As Needed
   • Create assignments from the Class Stream, Student Planner, or Assignments page.
   • Use these options when creating assignments as needed or planning individual tasks.
   • Goals are created directly in Spark rather than through Courses.
2. Using the Course Feature
   • Ideal for planning assignments ahead of time for an entire Session.
   • Courses can be reused for future Sessions or different students.
   • Once scheduled, course assignments automatically appear in the appropriate assignment views and can be edited there.

Learn more about the Course feature on the help pages under Courses.