Teacher Guide

Everything you need to run spelling practice from one portal.

A detailed reference for lists, classes, sharing, and account management. Jump to the section you need or read through once to get the full picture.

Managing word lists

Creating a list

Open the Lists tab and click New list. Give it a name that identifies the week or topic — your students never see this name, so naming for your own reference works best. Add words one at a time or paste a comma-separated batch to speed things up.

Adding word details

Each word can optionally include a part of speech, definition, and example sentence. These appear in the iOS app during practice. They take extra time to fill in, but students find them helpful — especially for homophones and tricky words.

Editing and reordering

You can edit any word or its details at any time. Reorder words by dragging them in the list view. Changes take effect immediately in the portal; students see updated content the next time the app syncs.

Building classes

What a class is

A class is a container that groups word lists and generates a join code for families. You might have one class per grade, one per reading group, or one per subject — it's flexible. A single list can appear in multiple classes.

Publishing a class

After adding lists to a class, click Publish. WordSprout generates a 6-character join code and a QR code. Both are permanent for that class unless you rotate them manually.

Controlling list visibility

You can choose which lists in a class are active. Inactive lists stay in the class structure but don't appear in the iOS app until you re-activate them — useful for publishing new lists week by week without creating a new class each time.

Sharing with families

The join code

The 6-character join code is the only thing a family needs. Share it in your weekly newsletter, paste it in your class communication app, or write it on the board. It's not case-sensitive, so students of any age can type it.

The QR code

Every class has a QR code families can scan with the iOS camera — no need to type the code. The class detail page has a print-ready share card with the QR code, join instructions, and your class name.

Multiple devices

One join code works on as many devices as needed. If a family has two children in the same class, or a student practices on both a phone and a tablet, they can enter the same code on each device.

Updating and rotating

Changing a list mid-week

Edit the list and save. The portal updates immediately. Students see the new words the next time the iOS app syncs with your class (when they open the app with an internet connection).

Rotating a join code

If you need to invalidate an existing code — for example, if it was shared too widely — you can rotate it from the class settings. The old code stops working; the new one is generated immediately.

Archiving a class

When a class is no longer needed, archive it. Archived classes don't appear in the main view but are preserved so you can reference the lists later or unarchive for a new term.

What you can and can't see

Redemption counts

The only metric available per class is how many times the join code has been used. This tells you roughly how many devices have loaded your class — useful for checking whether families have enrolled.

No individual progress data

WordSprout doesn't track which student practiced which words, how long they practiced, or what their scores were. This is by design: student anonymity is built into the system at the architecture level, not as a policy.

Why this matters

No individual data means no data breach risk for students. Parents and guardians don't need to consent to data collection. And you don't need to worry about which district or school policies apply to practice-time data.

Account and settings

Your public teacher page

Every WordSprout account can optionally have a public teacher page at wordsprout.com/t/yourhandle. You control whether it's enabled, what lists appear, and whether your school name is shown. It's off by default.

Billing and plans

WordSprout is free to start — no card required. The free plan includes up to 5 active word lists. The Teacher plan ($5.99/mo) gives you unlimited lists and classes with a 30-day trial. Manage billing, upgrade, or cancel any time from your account settings.

Multiple teachers

School and district plans support multiple teacher seats under a single account. Each teacher has their own login and lists, but billing is consolidated. Contact us to set up a school plan.

Still have questions?

The FAQ has quick answers. Or reach out directly — we respond fast.